Melody Barnes: Start of Time
by JanaeSpecter14
Summary: Maria Rogers had been in love with Bucky Barnes since they grew up on the same street. They are the engaged Brooklyn golden couple. Now that he's going off to war and Maria's involved with Howard Stark's new super soldier project, Maria will accept anyone to be the super soldier if he's up for it. What happens when it's her own brother? Prequel to Melody Barnes series.
1. Goodbye, Love

"_**I'm an atom in the sea of nothing looking for another to combine. Maybe we could be the start of something. Be together at the start of time. There's a ghost upon the moor tonight. Now it's in our house. When you walked into the room just then, it's like the sun came out. And the day is clear. My voice is just a whisper louder than the screams you hear. It's like the sun came out."**_

_**-Start of Time by Gabrielle Aplin**_

* * *

Bucky was lacing up his shoes to get ready to go to PT. His last PT in the country since tomorrow, he would be gone. A woman's hand inched toward him and ran her fingers down his leg. Bucky chuckled to himself as he looked behind him. "Maria," He complained with a smile on his face. "I have to get going."

She moved so she was now lying horizontally on the bed, being right next to Bucky. "This is my last morning with you." She leaned up and her perfectly red polished fingers began to stroke his cheek, taking Bucky into heaven. Her engagement ring sparkled in the lamp's light as she rubbed his face with her thumb, making him want to skip out on being a soldier all together just so he could be with her. "You don't want to make it worth your while?"

She pulled him down on the bed and he began kissing her passionately, knowing he was going to miss her more than anything. He pulled away from her for a moment and looked into her sparkling blue eyes. "I will make a deal with you." She nodded, ready for him to tell her more. "Once I get back from PT, you and I will go for another round."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I have to go to work." He frowned at her and leaned in, giving her another kiss, moving down to her neck. "Bucky!" She chuckled out. "If we're not going to do this then don't get me started."

He sighed and then got up from the bed, continuing to put his shoes back on. "You sure you have everything planned for tonight?"

"Yup." She told him. "Including the date for Steve."

"Who'd you get this time?" He chuckled out.

"Jan." He turned to look at her with his eyebrows furrowed. "You don't know her. She's an intern."

"Did Howard already sleep with her?" Bucky joked, causing Maria to hit him on the arm with a smile on her face. "I know, I know. He's your boss."

"A very well paying boss to be exact." Melody told him as she took the sheets off of her and began to stretch out. "I don't like sneaking out of here, Bucky."

He turned to her with a confused face. "What are you talking about? Everyone knows we're engaged."

"Yeah," She told him as he turned all the way to look at her. "_Engaged_. We're not married. We're not supposed to be doing this."

He moved forward to sit right in front of her, grabbing her hands. "Who cares what people think?" She smiled at him while looking down at their held hands. "Right?" She nodded as she looked back up at him. "I love you and you love me. We're engaged to be married and we do what we want to do."

"Because we're in love." She finished for him.

"Exactly." He looked into her eyes. He loved every bit of her and would miss every bit of her. "And no one can punish us for being in love and doing things that people who are in love are doing."

"That's right." He leaned in and kissed her, Maria bringing him back down into the bed. She then pulled away from him, squinting her eyes at him. "I thought you had to get to PT."

"I just love you so much." He joked as he began to tickle her. "I can't leave you, Maria!" She began to squeal with delight and he laughed as he let her pin his arms behind him. "See you tonight." He told her, leaning in, kissing her one more time before getting off of her.

"I'll see you tonight." She promised him as she sat up to watch him walk to the door. "I love you."

"I love you." He told her as he opened the door, giving her one last smile before shutting it, leaving her alone so she could get ready for work.

* * *

Maria stood with her hands on her hips as she continued to watch the people get things set up for the exposition tonight. "Hey!" She yelled at someone who dropped one of the parts of the car. "Careful! I built that piece myself."

"Maria!" She turned around to see Howard Stark coming straight for her along with an older man in a military uniform. "There you are." He spoke as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, still looking at the man in the uniform. "She is amazing. Super smart. She's up for the job."

"What job?" She asked Howard through a smile as they both stared at him.

"Alright," He spoke in a think southern accent. "And you'll be ready when we have the right applicant?"

"Yes, sir." Howard promised before leaning in to shake his hand.

"Good." He leaned in to shake Maria's hand. "I'll talk to you two soon."

"Bye." Howard called. Once Maria was sure he was gone, she turned to Howard and smacked him in the arm. "Ow!"

"What the hell did you get me into?"

"Okay," He spoke as Maria began to let out a heavy sigh, not really sure she _wanted_ to know what he got her into. "That was Colonel Phillips from the United States Army."

Maria shrugged. "Yeah. What's your point?"

"Point is, he came to me, personally, and asked me to make something new."

Her eyebrows furrowed, still not understanding why he was so excited. "We make things new all the time."

"Something _really _new."

"Will you just tell me?!" She yelled at him, annoyed with his beating around the bush.

"Okay," He pulled her even further away from the people and put his hands on her shoulders, looking her right in the eye. "We are going to make a serum to make a super soldier."

Maria's mouth dropped slightly at even the mention of a project this big. "We make weapons, Howard. This is a human experiment."

"And we'll be making a human weapon."

Maria sighed, knowing this was wrong on so many levels. "Above my pay grade, Howard."

She turned around, but he grabbed her arm, needing her to say yes to this project. He couldn't do it without her. "I will triple your salary."

Maria stood there for a moment, looking at him. She already made a fair amount of money, but now that he would triple it, her wedding would be the most extravagant thing in Brooklyn. She sighed and put her hand out, shaking his, not totally proud of herself. "Done."

"Thank you." He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. He began to walk backwards while pointing at her. "You're the best!"

She rolled her eyes at him and looked back to the people who were bringing the car in. Sometimes she felt like she worked for a twelve year old.

* * *

Bucky and Steve walked into the Stark Expo together, Steve still bummed out from his millionth rejection today. "I don't see what your problem is." Bucky told him, noticing how upset he was, just wanting to make him happier. "You're about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know there's three and a half million woman here?"

"Hell," Steve told him while still looking down. "I'd settle for just one."

"Whoa." Bucky put his hand out in front of Steve, while looking off to see Maria and Jan. Steve looked up and rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. "Who is that dynamite dish over there?"

"My sister." Steve told him with a nod while looking to the two girls who were talking excitedly about the expo. "My baby sister who you're engaged to."

"She's taller than you."

"She has heels."

"Not all the time." Steve gave Bucky a light push to mess with him and Bucky put his fists up, pretending he was going to go for him.

Maria looked over just as the two began to dance around each other. Her smile got even wider. She looked back to Jan, telling her to wait there before she walked up to the two boys. She put both of her arms around their shoulders quickly as hard as she could, causing them both to jump and stop doing what they were doing. "How are my two favorite boys?" They both leaned in and kissed both of her cheeks.

She smiled widely and turned as she looped her arm through Bucky's and walked closest to Steve. "Okay, that's Jan."

He looked to her with a sigh. "What did you tell her about me?"

"Only the good stuff." She told him quickly. "She's an intern of Stark's."

"Did he sleep with her already?" Maria looked to Steve with her mouth dropped as Bucky stifled a laugh. When Maria turned to Bucky, he put his hand up like he was innocent and Maria leaned in to kiss him. Steve smiled at them, never seeing two people who were more in love.

The three of them talked a little bit with Jan, trying to get Steve to know her a little bit before the demonstration started. Jan didn't seem to take much interest in Steve which was starting to annoy Maria. She hated that no one saw what she saw in her brother. He was one of the best guys she knew and it wasn't fair for him. Just because he was small and scrawny and a little awkward with women, they shunned him.

Right when the demonstration was about to start, Maria grabbed Bucky's hand and dragged him to the stage as he smiled at the way her curly blonde hair bounced. "The car is sweet!" She promised as she looked back to the three of them who were following her.

They finally found a spot in the middle of the crowd, Maria making sure they had a perfect view. Bucky put his hands around her and Maria began to lean into his chest. Jan was standing behind Maria and Steve was behind her. "Ladies and gentlemen," One of the dancers announced as she moved out of the way of the car. "Mr. Howard Stark!"

"Stark should have put you up there as a dancer." Bucky whispered in her ear. Maria smirked as she leaned even further into him, waiting to hear what he had to say. "I wouldn't mind seeing you in one of those outfits."

She put her head up so she was right next to his face. "I thought you liked my lab coat."

He nodded, his smile growing wider. "That is sexier."

She kissed him once before looking back to the stage, ready to see all the hard work she and Howard put into that car finally pay off. Howard strutted on stage to the dancer and kissed her. Maria rolled her eyes once he took the microphone from her, knowing it was just Howard being Howard. "Ladies and gentlemen, what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile wouldn't have to touch the ground at all?"

Bucky looked down at Maria like he was impressed, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were focused on the car as the dancers moved the tires off of the it. "With Stark gravatic reversion technology, you'll be able to do just that."

Maria watched nervously, hoping it wouldn't flop in front of everyone. Howard turned the nob, moved the switch and the car began rising in the air. Maria smiled proudly as she watched everyone's excitement. She was proud of Howard and herself for actually making this work. "Holy cow." Bucky spoke out of breath from behind her. His amazement was the one that mattered most to her.

The car then began to spark at where the tires were supposed to be and then land on the ground. Everyone jumped, but Maria just smiled. "I did say a few years, didn't I?" Howard spoke with a shrug as the crowd went into applause.

Bucky pulled Maria closer, putting his chin on her shoulder. "I'm proud of you, babe." And even bigger smile passed over her face as she felt herself lean even further into Bucky. The whole thing was bittersweet. All she kept thinking about was how this would be one of the last times they would share a moment like this until the war was over.

Steve began to look behind him, not really captivated by the car anymore. Yes, he thought it was amazing and he was so proud of his sister. She beat all odds. People told her women couldn't be scientists and she beat them all. She was working for Howard Stark the, top weapon designer. He was proud of her, but that only made him think about how he hadn't beaten all odds yet. Steve saw a recruiting center not far from him and knew in that moment where he really wanted to be.

Bucky continued to look at the car, still impressed as he began to turn around. "Hey, Steve, what do you say we treat these girls to-" When he turned all the way around, he noticed Steve was gone. He was nowhere nearby. He then saw the recruitment center, closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Maria."

She turned around to see Bucky pointing at the recruitment center. She sighed, knowing the same thing Bucky did and turned to him, knowing they had to do something.

Steve stood in the recruitment center, watching a man walk up to one of the pictures where he could put his head on the soldier's body. The girl he was with began to laugh and pull his arm. "Come on, soldier!"

Steve then walked up to the stand, but he was much shorter than the soldier. Steve jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Come on," Maria told him with a slight smile. "You're kind of missing the point of a double date. We're going dancing."

"You go ahead." Steve spoke as he looked behind Maria to see Bucky and Jan talking and Bucky beginning to walk over to them. "I'll catch up with you later."

Maria sighed as she looked to the picture of the soldier and then back to Steve. "You're really gonna do this again?" She asked him angrily.

"It's a fair." He told her with a nod. "I'm gonna try my luck."

"As who?!" She yelled at him just as Bucky got to her, putting his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down a little bit. "Steve from Ohio?!

"Maria's right." Bucky told him as she nodded, glad that someone was backing her up on this since this fight seemed impossible with Steve. "They'll catch you. Worse, they'll actually take you."

"Look, I know you both don't think I can do this-"

"This isn't about that, Steve." Bucky protested angrily. "This is war."

"I know its war."

"God," Maria yelled while throwing her hands up. "Why are you so keen to fight? There are so many important jobs."

"What am I gonna do? Collect scrap metal in my little red wagon?"

"Yes!" Maria yelled at him.

"Why not?" Bucky asked with a shrug, wanting him to do anything else, but go in that war.

"I'm not gonna fit in a factory, Bucky. Maria! Bucky! Come on, there are men laying down their lives. I've got no right to do any less than them. That's what you two don't understand. It isn't about me."

Maria rolled her eyes before speaking. "Right, because you've got nothing to prove."

"Hey, Maria!" She shut her eyes like Jan's interruption couldn't have come at a worse time. "Are we going dancing?"

Bucky turned around instead, smiling at Jan. "This isn't how I'm spending my last night with him, Steve." Maria whispered low enough for Bucky not to hear.

"We'll be there in a minute!" He turned back to the two and Steve nodded to Maria, also not wanting to spoil their last night together. Bucky took a sigh as he looked at Steve. "Don't do anything stupid until I get back."

He took Maria by the hand and began to walk down the stairs with her. "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

Bucky turned back around, letting go of Maria's hand and moved quickly to Steve, wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "You're a punk."

"Jerk." He told him as he patted his back and Maria smiled at the two. "Be careful." Bucky nodded as he got out of the hug and began to join Maria who waved at Steve before they walked down the steps. "Don't win the war until I get there!" Bucky turned back to him with a smile, giving him a small salute before walking off with Maria.

* * *

Bucky and Maria spent all night together in Bucky's apartment. Maria was taking it over right after he left and selling her old one. The plan was to get married right after he came back from war and with this new bonus at work, Maria promised herself that she would knock the socks off of Bucky.

They had made love all night. They just wanted to be together as much as they could, knowing they would have to go months without seeing each other. After their third time, Maria and Bucky were both on their knees resting on the bed as Bucky kissed her all over. He moved to her stomach and began caressing it after he kissed it. "Damn, I hope you're pregnant."

She smacked him on the head with a small smile. "Bucky!"

"What?!" He asked as he moved back to her stomach, beginning to kiss it all over again. "If I get a letter saying that I have a kid in my girl's belly then they'll send me home sooner." He put his lips to her stomach and whispered, "Come on, little egg. You know you want to fertilize."

She collapsed on the bed as she laughed, Bucky running his hands up her body until he reached her face, taking it in his hands and laying soft kisses on her lips. "I love you." Maria said once he pulled away from her. A few tears began to fall down her cheeks, knowing these really were her last hours with him.

"Hey." He spoke as he wiped the tears off his cheeks. "Don't cry, alright?" She nodded as she sniffled. "Because I am gonna be home before you know it."

"I know." She told him in a teary voice with a shrug. "It's just hard, you know?"

He nodded and kissed her again. "I promise you that I will write you every single day. We'll request what letters we want each other to write. We can write sexy ones or loving one, funny ones, normal letters describing our days. Anything."

Maria nodded as she held back the tears that were poking at her eyes. She decided to distract the tears by kissing him. She wouldn't cry if his lips were against hers. "I love you." She whispered to him when she found a break in the middle of a kiss.

"I love you." He whispered back and they slowly fell asleep together.

* * *

Bucky woke up early that morning. Earlier than he was supposed to. His time to leave was six and Maria set an alarm so she could be there when he left, but Bucky turned it off. He didn't want to wake her and he didn't want to see her cry. The last image he wanted of her before he left was of her sleeping soundly.

He got his uniform on in the dark and held his hat in his hand while looking at Maria in their nice warm bed. He moved forward, stroked her hair one last time and put a kiss on her head, letting a tear fall out of his eye. "I love you, Maria." He whispered right before picking his head up and walking out of the door.

At seven, Maria's alarm went off. She rolled over, expecting to find Bucky, but he wasn't there. She sat up from the bed and noticed how light it was outside. She then looked to the clock, seeing that it was seven. Bucky had been on his way to England for an hour now. Maria began to rub her arm at the thought of crying.

She looked over to Bucky's nightstand and saw that there was a note. She picked it up and unfolded it quickly, trying to find out what it said. _I left because I love you and when you're in love you can do whatever you want._

Maria put the piece of paper to her chest as she felt everything inside her breaking. Tears fell down her face as she fell back onto the bed. She moved to Bucky's pillow and put her face in it as she continued to cry. The pillow still smelt like him.

**_For you new followers, this is a prequel to my previous story. You don't have to read those first. You can start with this one, but it would be cool if you read the others. Old followers, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Please review!_**


	2. Letters From Brooklyn and the Front Line

Howard moved one of Maria's boxes into the apartment as she tore through her mail, finding a letter from Bucky. She threw all the other envelopes to the ground with a smile on her face as she began to open it up. "You know," Howard began. "It would be nice if you helped move into _your_ apartment.

She completely tuned him out because she had to read this letter. She was finally hearing from Bucky.

_Dear Maria,_

_You won't believe the people I've met over here. They're all so brave and all I hope is that I can live up to their glories. I'm having major jetlag though. The only good thing about it is that once my head hits the pillow, I'm out._

_How are you doing? I know that I left suddenly and I feel so bad for that. I just couldn't see you cry any more than you did that night. I want you to know that I love you more than the world itself and that I miss you._

_How's that new project you were talking about going? I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time. You're the smartest person I know. You're probably the smartest person in the world. I'd like to see you do some competition or send your IQ in or something to show that you're the smartest person in the world._

_I know I'm not coming off as smart right now, but that's okay. You've grown to love that. You told me that night we went to the beach for the first time. That night you told me you loved me. Do you remember? The way the tide went up to us, slipping through our bodies as you were sitting in my lap. I loved the way you would sit in my lap and I miss it._

_I miss the feeling of you sleeping right by me. I miss the feeling of holding your hand. I miss picking you up and tickling you while throwing you down on the bed. I heard our song yesterday and it put a smile on my face. It always makes me think of you. I've been whistling it a lot lately._

_You know that I love you more than anything, right? You're my life and my world. I've always loved you and I think I always will. You're an impossible person to get out of my mind. You're beautiful in every way, shape and form. I am not only lucky, but proud to call you the one and only love of my life._

_Your soldier, Bucky_

Maria moved the letter to her lips and kissed it, leaving a red lipstick stain. She missed Bucky more than anything and after that letter, she knew she would always love him.

Behind her, a box dropped so she jumped to see Howard looking down at it. Maria put her hands on her hips as she stared at him with her lips pursed. He threw his hands in the air at her, upset face. He pointed at her and said, "Your fault."

* * *

Bucky sat on his cot, scribbling a picture of Maria, thinking about hanging it up on the wall next to his cot. A man walked into their barracks with a stack of letters in his hands. "Letters, fellas!"

Everyone began to get up, getting excited about the letters, but Bucky was stuck on his drawing, rubbing his finger across one of the lines he drew to shade the cheekbones. The man was calling out names and men cheered at the fact that they got letters from home. "Barnes!" Bucky sat up and raised his hand.

"Over here!"

The man brought over his letter and Bucky smiled when he saw Maria's name written in cursive on the envelope. "What's this?" He heard someone ask across from him in a teasing tone. When he looked up, he saw a younger, scrawny soldier. One of the biggest men in their division was standing behind him, mocking him about his letter. "You got a letter from your mommy?"

When he looked at the boy, he thought of Steve. "Hey!" Bucky yelled at the man who was bullying him. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"And what are you gonna do?" The man challenged him.

Bucky shrugged and looked him up and down. "I'll just punch you in the face." The man laughed for a moment, but then lunged at Bucky. He dodged it, grabbed him by the hair and punched him in the face as the people around him cheered. "Get lost, punk!" He told him as he pushed him back.

He tried to run at Bucky again, but someone pulled him back and took him away from the barracks. Bucky turned to the kid and looked him up and down. "Are you okay?"

The kid nodded and smiled up at Bucky. "Thanks." He spoke in a British accent.

Bucky shook his head and crouched down right in front of him. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

Bucky's eyes grew a bit wide at that. He was just a kid. "You got a girl?"

He looked down at his letter and smiled a bit. "Yeah." He picked up the letter and showed it to him. "It's from her. That guy's an idiot."

Bucky chuckled. "Yeah. He really is."

"We're engaged." The boy told him as he showed him the letter. Bucky smiled as he studied the cover with a lipstick stain resting on it. "Everyone thinks we're too young-"

"My girl and I had the same problem." Bucky told him, cutting him off. "We've been engaged about five times."

The boy's eyes grew wide as he smiled. He put his hand out and Bucky took it. "Name's Eddy Daniels."

Bucky smiled as their hands shook. "Bucky Barnes." He let go of his hand and pointed to Eddy's letter. "I'll let you read your letter."

Eddy smiled at him as Bucky sat back down on his bed, both of them beginning to open their letters. Bucky smiled as his eyes immediately went to the lipstick stain at the bottom of the letter.

_Dear Bucky,_

_I'm finally in the apartment! The only down side is that everything here reminds me of you. I miss you terribly and it's been torturous not having you around. I want our hands interlocked and I want to be in your lap again. Please come home soon. It already feels like ages since I've seen you. No baby yet so I don't think we're gonna get you out that way._

_I hope it's at least fun for you over there. I know how much you love being a soldier and I would never ask you to stop just so I could have you all the time. The project is hard, but I like the challenge. It's still top secret and I still can't tell you anything about it. Sorry, love._

_I got the church where your parents got married booked for the wedding ceremony and for the reception, I got where my parents had theirs. Since we were talking about our song, how about I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time for our first dance? It's our song and it's perfect._

_After reading your letter, I dreamt about our night on the beach. It seems like so long ago now. I don't understand why, but now that we're separated, all of our favorite moments seemed like so many years ago._

_Have you met anyone new? I hope you're making new friends. I hope you have someone to talk to about everything that's going on. As I read those last few lines, I realize that I sound like a mom talking to her kid after their first day back from kindergarten. I just miss you and I hope you're having the best time possible over in England._

_I love every bit of you. I hope you always know that. Even while we're separated, I want you to know that I love all of you. Even the parts that made me upset at the beginning, I love now with all my heart. It's impossible for me not to love you. You're my everything and all of me. Stay safe, my soldier._

_Your scientist, Maria_

Bucky smiled to himself and then looked back down at the picture he was drawing. He picked it up and began to finish it. He had to finish it soon. He had to have some picture of Maria.

* * *

Maria and Steve walked out of the coffee shop, Maria gripping her coffee tight as Steve began to explain to her what had happened after she and Bucky left the Stark Expo. "So, I'm a soldier now."

"Steve," Maria began as she turned to look at him. "Are you serious right now?" He opened his mouth to say something, but she wasn't going to let him. She was going to continue talking. "You have asthma, anemia-"

"I know what I have. You don't have to recite it."

Maria stopped walking, getting in front of him so he would also stop. "Steve." She spoke firmly. "This is insane. Even for you."

"Look," He told her, starting to get angry. "This doctor is giving me a chance to do the one thing I have always wanted to do." She continued to look at him while shaking her head. She didn't like it. She didn't like one bit of it, but it was what he wanted. She knew what it was like to get told she couldn't do something. "That's like me saying that you can't be a scientist because of what happened to Marie Curie."

She took a deep breath as she studied him, knowing he was exactly right and it was unfair for her to try and stop him even if it was hard. "Okay." She finally said. Steve cheered a little bit as Maria rubbed her head, still not liking the idea at all. "When are you going to basic training?"

Steve began to rock back and forth on his heels uncomfortably. "Tomorrow."

Maria's eyes grew wide and she leaned forward, smacking Steve in the back of the head. "You're leaving tomorrow and you're just telling me today?" He began to rub the back of his head as she pushed him, gaining looks from people all around them, but she wasn't going to care in that moment. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You bet your ass that you're sorry." She told him as she continued to walk with him following her. "Where are you going?"

"They're sending me to New Jersey for basic training."

Maria stopped walking and looked to him again, shaking her head, feeling new stress at the thought of her brother now going off to be soldier. "I hate you."

Steve smiled at her, put his hands in his pockets and continued walking down the sidewalk. "I love you too."

She watched him walk off, feeling hopeless in that moment. She couldn't do anything about him going into the Army now. All she could do was pray for him to make it out all right.

* * *

Bucky and Eddy walked back into the barracks covered in dirt and sweat. They were talking about all they had done that day and all the work they had done. Bucky was getting really attached to Eddy. He was a great kid and he reminded him of his best friend back home. "Barnes!" Bucky turned around and one of the men in their division gave him an envelope with Maria's familiar writing on it.

Bucky smiled once he looked at the letter and looked to his friend who put his hands up while stepping back, knowing that reading a letter from his fiancé was supposed to be a private thing. Eddy nodded and Bucky went back to his bed. He sat down on his bed and opened the letter with a smile on his face.

_Dear Bucky,_

_You'll never believe what happened. Steve was approved. My brother is going to be a soldier. He's leaving tomorrow to New Jersey for basic training. He didn't tell me much about this doctor, but he said that he gave him a chance of some sort. That was all he said about it._

_I'm starting to get worried. What if he actually gets sent to war. I don't think Steve will actually be able to survive out there. He's a great person and he has a warrior's soul, but, Bucky, he would not survive out there. You and I both know it._

_The second he gets out of basic training, I'm making him move in with me. I don't care what they try to make him do, I have to protect him. I don't care if I'm the youngest. I have to protect him in every way I can._

_Tell me that you can write to him somehow and knock some sense into him. I can't handle the thought of anything bad happening to him. I'm scared. I can't lose any more family. I love you, darling. Stay safe and write soon. You're my heart and my soul. Always remember that._

_Your scientist, Maria_

Bucky sat there for a moment rereading. The fact that Steve was actually accepted into the Army was blowing his mind. He had to get in contact with Steve somehow. The man was practically his brother. He had to protect him. Just like Maria, he had to protect him.

* * *

Maria raced to get to the mailman as he was putting the letters in the mailboxes. "Good morning, Maria." He greeted her as he saw her running down the steps, already looking for the letter from Bucky.

"Hey, Norm." He handed her the letter and she waved to him as she headed out the door. "Have a good day!"

She quickly opened up the letter as she walked down the sidewalk, hurrying to read it as she walked to work. These letters were beginning to become the highlight of her days. This one she was particularly ready to read since the last one she had talked all about Steve.

_Dear Maria,_

_You and I are both worried about Steve, but we can't control him. I don't want it any more than you do, but it's what he wants. We have to step back and let him do what he wants. If we keep pushing him away from it, it will only make him want it more._

_As hard as it might be, you and I have to let him do what he wants. We both love him and we both don't want to drive a wedge between us and him. I love you, but you can be a little protective of Steve. And he is the older brother._

_Honey, you have to let him do what he wants. You can't protect him forever just like he can't protect you forever. If this is what he wants to do and this doctor is giving him a chance then let him give him a chance. It will all work out the way it's meant to work out._

_You may be mad at me, but that's what I feel like is the right thing for us to do in this situation. I love you to the moon and back. Always remember that and please don't stay too mad at me. I love getting your letters. They make me feel like a part of me is still in Brooklyn with you._

_Your soldier, Bucky_

Maria had to stop walking at one point while reading the words on the page. She knew Bucky was right, but part of her wanted him to side with her. She was rereading the letter as she walked into the place they were working and when she gave the woman upfront the keywords to go down in the secret parts of the place to the research.

When she finally got down to the bottom level, she put the letter in her purse where she found Howard working on the machine he was making and Dr. Erskine working on the serum. Maria sat down at the lab table with him and mixed together a few chemicals. Nothing any of them were trying was working and Colonel Phillips had called the other day saying that they were close to picking their new super soldier and needed Erskine to come over soon to help them pick the super soldier. "I hate this." Maria mumbled to herself. "I hate Howard."

"Do you hate my money?" Howard asked as he showed up right behind her, studying what she was mixing. "I'm practically paying for your wedding."

"Will you two shush?" Abraham asked them as he sat in front of Maria, mixing his own chemicals. "You fight like an old married couple."

"We're far from an old married couple." Maria commented as she turned back to look at Howard finishing up on the machine they were gonna use to inject their super soldier. She turned back to Erskine who was smiling widely at her. "What?" She laughed out at the way he was staring at her.

He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that you remind me of two people I used to know."

"Who?" Maria asked as she leaned forward, genuinely curious about it.

He looked back to her as he was continuing to mix his chemicals and proceeded to test them out. "My mentors, who worked very closely together while I was in Germany. Sadly, they are both dead now." Maria nodded, waiting for him to continue. "They would bicker every single day." Maria smiled a little bit as she looked up at him. "They were a great team, but they were constantly arguing. Eventually, the two of them realized the reason they were bickering so much was because they felt very strongly for each other."

Maria looked over at Howard to make sure he hadn't heard any of what they were talking about and then back to Abraham. "I'm engaged."

He nodded and then looked back to Howard. "I know." She followed his gaze and noticed that Howard was staring at her. He shook his head once he saw that he had been caught and continued working. "It was just an observation." Maria looked back to him with a slight smile at his excuse. "We are scientists." Maria opened her mouth, about to say something when he broke her out of it. "What did you just mix?"

She looked down at it and handed him the formula she had just written down. "That's the one thing I needed." He whispered as he looked down at her formula. "You just figured it out."

"I did?" Maria asked like she was unsure of herself.

"You," He spoke as he hurried to her and grabbed her face in his hands, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Just figured it out, my dear." He looked over to Howard who was still working. "Howard, we're ready!"

He ran to him and Maria continued to sit there, thinking about everything he had just told her. Not just that she was right, but also about Howard. She looked to the two and saw the excitement and joy on his face. She smiled a little bit. She loved Howard, but as a friend. She loved Bucky as a lover. After what Abraham told her, she still wondered.

**_I hope you liked the new chapter! And happy early Fourth of July to you guys who celebrate! Did you like the letters? What about the Maria and Howard bickering. I honestly love their friendship. Please review!_**


	3. The Super Solider

_**Okay, I'm officially stupid. I uploaded a chapter from Mama Who Bore Me which is kind of embarrassing. I'm sorry guys. This is the new chapter for real. **_

Steve sat on his bed in the barracks, reading a book. He was sent back to the barracks as everyone else was eating dinner. He couldn't eat or drink anything because he had a procedure tomorrow. He was chosen to be the super soldier. There was a knock on the door and Steve turned to it, seeing Dr. Erskine poke his head in. "May I?" Steve nodded and Abraham began to walk into the barrack. "Can't sleep?" He guessed as he sat on the bed across from him with two glasses and a bottle of alcohol in his hands.

"Got the jitters, I guess." Steve spoke with a shrug. Abraham laughed a little and Steve decided this was the best time to ask him the question he had been thinking about. "Can I ask you a question?" Abraham nodded eagerly as Steve took a deep breath. "Why me?"

"I suppose that is the only question that matters." He began to tell him the story about how Hitler found him and grouped him with Dr. Johann Schmidt and Hydra. He told him about how Schmidt believed everything that Hitler told them. He didn't think that the stories he told them were stories, he believed they were truth. He became obsessed with it and developed a serum much like the one they were about to give Steve. "The serum was not ready; a scientist in Brooklyn actually perfected it." Steve thought for a moment, knowing only one scientist in Brooklyn who was capable of such a thing. "But more important, the man. The serum improves everything that's inside you, so good becomes great and bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen because the strong man who has power all his life has no respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength and knows compassion."

Steve watched him the entire time, not sure how to actually take what he was telling him. He told him how much he thought of him, but he also called him weak. "Thanks, I think."

Abraham smiled and gave him one of the glasses, beginning to pour the alcohol in it and then his. "Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing; that you will stay who you are, not a perfect soldier, but a good man."

Steve smiled at him as he pointed to his heart. Steve brought out his glass and shrugged. "To the little guys." They both clinked their glasses and Steve put his to his lips.

"No, no! Wait!" Steve jumped and put his glass down. "What am I doing?" Abraham mumbled to himself as he took his glass from him. "You have a procedure tomorrow. No fluids."

He poured Steve's drink into his own glass as Steve nodded, coming up with a solution. "Alright, we'll drink it after."

"No. I don't have procedure tomorrow. I don't drink it after. I drink it now." Steve chuckled as he drank both in his glass. He knew he had to get to sleep. He was going to see his sister tomorrow.

* * *

Maria sat at one of the tables, scribbling a letter for Bucky as everyone around her got things ready for their super soldier to arrive. Howard got in front of her and banged his hands on the table in a beat. Maria looked up at him in the middle of writing. "Can I help you?"

"You might want to help a little bit rather than write a letter to your fiancé."

She adjusted and he got a look of something she was keeping under the letter she was writing. "What is that?"

"Nothing." She answered quickly while putting her arms over it and stopping writing. He tried to go for it, but she smacked his hand away. The two began wresting with each other with their arms until Howard finally got what he was trying to get. "Howard, stop!" She yelled at him as she got out of her seat and jumped so she could try to reach the picture.

"Damn!" Howard commented as he looked at the picture. "Thigh highs and garters."

She pulled the picture out of his hands and stuffed it in the envelope along with the letter for Bucky. "I could kill you." She told him before licking the envelope shut and writing the address on it.

"Come on, Maria. It's natural to send those kind of pictures to your fiancé." She kissed the envelope and Howard smirked. "He doesn't need that kiss to fantasize about you." She got up and gave him a push. Howard laughed as she put the letter in her purse, planning on sending it when she got out of there. "Maria," He began as he grabbed her shoulders. "You're my best friend and I love you and I will never judge you."

Maria rolled her eyes with a smile. "I hate you."

He pulled her into a hug and he pat her back. "You look so hot in thigh highs and garters." She broke away from him and pushed him back a little bit as he continued to chuckle.

"Mr. Stark?" They both jumped as Maria turned around to see Colonel Phillips right behind her. They both got rid of their happy, carefree attitude and went right into their serious mode.

Colonel Phillips shook Howard's hand and then Maria's. "How are you?" Maria asked, picking up that his mood was a little salty.

"Fine." He answered politely with a smile. "Thank you for asking." He handed her a file which she took and began to open. "This is all the information on our super soldier." Maria looked down at the file with her mouth dropped open. "Is there a problem?"

Howard leaned over Maria's shoulder to see what the file had said, but she closed it instantly, looking back up at Colonel Phillips as Howard jumped back. "No." She told him with a wide smile. "No problem. Go up in the booth and we'll be ready for our patient as soon as he gets here."

Colonel Phillips studied her with a weird glance, but smiled politely and walked over to the stairs leading to the booth. Maria turned around once she was sure he was gone and smacked Howard on the arm. "What did I do this time?!"

"You got me involved with this stupid project!" She yelled at him.

"What seems to be the problem?" Abraham asked as he walked up to them.

Maria looked at the file in her hands and then at Abraham, realizing that he was the doctor Steve was talking about who gave him a chance. She always thought he was some Army physician. She never thought that it would be Dr. Erskine who gave him a chance for the super soldier project. "You're him. You're the doctor who gave my brother a chance in the Army. What the _hell_ is wrong with you?"

Dr. Erskine looked down while smiling a little which was just frustrating her more. "Steve Rogers is your brother." He spoke knowingly. She nodded like it was obvious as Abraham just chuckled. "I should have noticed sooner."

Maria breathed out angrily and turned on her heels, upset that all of this was happening. Howard looked at Abraham and sighed. "You couldn't have paid attention to the last names?" He shrugged and Howard let out another sigh while he threw his head back. "I'm on it." Howard jogged to Maria who was pacing back and forth at the back of the room, under the booth so no one up there would be able to see her. "What are you doing?" Howard asked once he saw her.

She let out an angry breath as she continued to walk. "I'm calming myself down before I go back out there."

Howard's eyebrows furrowed. "You're going back?"

Maria threw her hands in the air. "What am I supposed to do? I don't like that it's my brother, but what else am I going to do? He was already approved. He's already on the way here."

Howard shrugged. "Quit."

Maria stopped walking and blinked a couple of times. "What?" She whispered out.

Howard shrugged again like what they were talking about was no big deal. "Quit. If it bothers you as much as you say it does then quit. I would understand and you're already paid. What's keeping you here?"

Maria stood there for a moment as she looked at Howard's knowing face, realizing exactly why he was saying all of these things. "Because I love my job." Howard nodded with a growing smile. "And I guess that deep down I think this would be good for him. Howard nodded again and Maria rolled her eyes at his smile. "I hate it when you go all therapist on me."

She began to walk past him and he jogged a little to catch up with her. "I've had a childhood full of them. I can't help, but get all psychiatrist on people sometimes."

"Alright, guys!" Maria spoke as she clapped her hands together. "Let's get this going! Our super soldier is going to be here in a few minutes." Everyone began working even harder than before and Abraham flashed her a smile as she did the same to him, knowing they both silently forgave each other.

Steve and Agent Carter walked down the hallway of their secret facility under an antique shop, gaining stares from everyone around at the thought that _this guy_ was the about to be super soldier. The doors to get into the lab opened for them from the inside and once they walked in, the entire room got quiet. With the same thought as all the others in the hallway. "Hey!" Maria yelled at everyone, not going to tolerate anything these people were thinking. "Get back to work!"

Everyone listened to her and went back to working, Maria smiling up at Steve. He smiled down at her, knowing since last night that she was going to be one of the scientists involved, but never knowing for sure. "Son of a gun." He whispered to himself as he followed Agent Carter down the stairs. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked her as she hurried to him for a hug.

"You know her?" Agent Carter asked as the two pulled away.

"Yeah," Steve answered as he looked back to her. "Believe it or not, she's my baby sister."

Maria smiled at her brother and looked over to Agent Carter. "Others would call me Dr. Maria Rogers."

She leaned forward and shook Peggy's hand. "Of course. I heard so much about you, Dr. Rogers."

Maria shook her head at Peggy. "Please, call me Maria." Peggy nodded and Maria put her arm around Steve. "Let's get you to Dr. Erskine."

Together, the three of them walked over to Abraham who was standing by Howard's machine. "Good morning." He told Steve as he shook his hand. Maria smiled as the two looked at each other, sharing their worries and fears with one glance. Suddenly, a flash happened, causing them all to look at the man next to them who had the large camera. "Please," Abraham spoke in an annoyed voice at the photographer. "Not now." He looked back to Steve and then to Maria. "Never thought your sister would be the one who was working on you?"

Steve chuckled a little bit as he looked to his sister. "I think she's more surprised that her brother is the one she's working on."

She smirked at him and turned around to help Howard out with the final touches until the experiment was performed. Steve looked back to the machine sitting in the center of the lab. That's when the situation really kicked in and felt very real to him. "Ready?" Steve looked back to him and nodded like he wasn't nervous. "Good. Take off your shirt, tie and hat."

Steve took off his clothes as Colonel Phillips greeted Senator Brant in the booth looking over the lab, explaining the power situation to him. Steve slowly got into the machine Howard had made and laid himself down. Dr. Erskine walked up to him, looking down on him with a smile. "Comfortable?"

"It's a little big." Maria walked up to him with a nervous face and began strapping him down into the machine. "Save me any of those schnapps?"

Dr. Erskine shrugged while looking ashamed. "Not as much as I should have. Sorry. Next time."

Maria began to do a walk around the machine, making sure everything was there. "Howard!" She called. Steve looked to her with his eyes slightly wide. Yes, his sister worked for Howard Stark and the two were practically best friends, but he had never actually met _the _Howard Stark. "How are the levels?"

He walked up to them, studying the straps on Steve, trying to make sure they were on there tight. "Levels are 100%."

"Good." Abraham commented before turning away from them.

Both Maria and Howard went back to studying all the things that went into the machine, not really paying attention to Steve who had on a very worried face. "We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we'll ever be."

Howard tapped Maria's arm and called her name, pulling her to get ready for the actual procedure. When Abraham turned around, he noticed that Peggy was still standing there, right next to Steve. "Agent Carter, don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?"

"Right." She half laughed out. Maria turned to her and turned her head to the side at the way she was acting. "Of course. Sorry." As she walked off, Peggy turned back to Steve, just needing one more look at him. That's when Maria knew for sure what was going on. Peggy had a thing for Steve. She officially loved the girl since she had seen him for who he really is and not how he looks on the outside. Maria smiled to herself as she turned back to Howard, ready to get this thing actually going.

Dr. Erskine started flicking the microphone, sending a very high piercing sound to the people in the booth. "Can you hear me? Is this on?" They all turned to him in the booth and he began speaking. "Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace." Nurses began to strap him all the way down and put the serum in the places needed in the machine. "We begin the series of microinjections into the subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change."

Dr. Erskine walked back to up Steve as the nurses stuck a needle in his arm. Steve shut his eyes as she pushed the plunger on the syringe and took a deep breath as they took it out of him. "That wasn't too bad." He commented to Dr. Erskine as the nurse walked away

He looked down at Steve and coughed, not really sure if he wanted to hear this. "That was penicillin." Maria and Howard shared a worried glance before going to the switches. "Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three, two, one." Maria took a deep breath as she flicked her switch, sending the serum into his bloodstream. Steve was immediately pained by it, shutting his eyes and making noises of discomfort. "Now, Mr. Stark."

Howard nodded and flipped his switch, closing him into the machine and others moved up to lock him in. Maria walked up to the machine and knocked on it with Abraham standing right next to her. "Steve?" She asked as she knocked again and got no response.

"Can you hear me?" Abraham asked.

"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" They both turned to each other with a smile. Maria moved to Howard, twisting the nob she needed to and put on her goggles along with Howard as he moved to the wheel he needed to turn.

"10%." Howard announced as the light began in the machine, changing Steve. "20%, 30%." The light started to get brighter and everyone who didn't have goggles on began to cover their eyes. "That's 40%."

"Vital signs are normal." Maria announced from the screen she was staring at.

Howard turned the wheel again, looking back to Steve in the machine. "50%, 60%, 70%." Steve began to scream from inside the machine which began to worry everyone.

Peggy got up from her seat in the booth as Maria watched on in horror, listening to her brother's screams. "Shut it down!" She screamed when she got out the door.

"Cut it!" Abraham announced. Maria didn't waste any time. She moved past Howard to the one switch she needed to pull to stop the whole thing. "Shut it down!"

"NO!" Steve screamed from inside the machine. Howard was right next to Maria when they both turned around to the machine. "Don't! I can do this!"

Maria looked to Howard with wide eyes, but all he did was shrug before walking back to the wheel he needed to turn and Maria to the screen monitoring his vitals. "80%, 90%." The light began to get an uncomfortable bright, Maria finding it hard to see even with the goggles on. "That's 100%."

Everything began sparking, taking too much power, causing everyone to shield themselves. The machine powered down, causing everyone to feel horror spread through their entire body, hearing nothing from Steve.

The doors opened and revealed Steve, but not the Steve they were all used to. He was taller and muscular. Maria had to blink about a thousand times, hardly recognizing her big brother who was finally her _big _brother. Everyone up in the booth was in a frenzy, hurrying to get down, but all Colonel Phillips did was sit there in shock, thinking about when he asked Stark and Rogers for their help months ago. "Son of a bitch did it."

Abraham and Howard hurried to help him out of the machine with Maria spotting on the back, making sure he didn't fall over. Once they got him into a standing position, Maria walked from behind him so she could stand in front of him. She looked him up and down, still in shock. Her brother had never looked like this before. "I think we did it." Abraham told them. Howard continued to stare at him, hardly believing his eyes as he nodded in wonderment.

Maria moved to him and turned him to her. His eyes were still wide, but all Maria did was smile. "We actually did it."

"_You_ did it." He insisted before pulling her in and kissing her on the cheek. "You're a miracle."

Peggy ran up to Steve, looking at him all over. She couldn't believe how good he looked. He was one of the best guys she had ever seen. "How do you feel?" She finally asked, looking back up at his face.

He began to look around the place, experiencing everything without having all the disabilities he had before. He was no longer colorblind, he was no longer in pain, he could breathe easier without the asthma, and he had all this energy now. "Taller." He finally answered her.

A nurse walked up with a shirt and Peggy took it from her, beginning to unfold it for him. "You look taller."

Colonel Phillips finally got up from the booth and walked over to the Senator, wrapping his arm around him with a smile. "How do you like Brooklyn now?"

"I think there are some folks in Berlin who are about to get very nervous."

Howard and Maria were celebrating, talking about their new plans and what they were going to do with all the money they were going to make off of it when Abraham looked to the back of the room, seeing a man take something out of his pocket and press a button. The booth then exploded, causing everyone to get to the ground and shield themselves from the glass falling down on them.

The man who had blown up the booth ran to where the serum was and took it while pulling a gun out. "Hey!" Maria yelled as she tried to run to him.

He pointed the gun at her and when Howard saw it, he felt his heart tighten. "Maria!" He tackled her down just as the gun went off, hitting Abraham right in the chest. He shot again and Abraham fell to the floor as the shooter ran up the stairs.

Peggy hit the man in the shoulder with her gun as Maria and Howard sat up from the floor to see Steve run over to Abraham who already had blood coming out of his mouth. The shooter was running down the hall and Peggy was now chasing after him, determined to stop him. Maria watched as Abraham took his last breaths and with his last bit of strength, pointed at Steve's heart. When he finally stopped breathing, Maria turned to Howard, just wanting to unsee it. Wanting to unsee all of it. Steve looked up in the direction of the man who had shot him ran off. He had to find him. And he had to stop him.

_**There wasn't much mention of Bucky in this chapter, but there will be in the next one! I promise! I hope you all enjoyed. Remember to review your thoughts!**_


	4. The Star Spangled Man With a Plan

All Maria and Howard could do was call the police as Steve and Peggy chased down the shooter, but once Steve got to him, he bit down on a cyanide pill while saying, "Hail Hydra."

They had all gone back to the underground part of the antique shop. The ambulance had taken away Abraham's body and Maria decided to stay close to Howard, still freaking out about everything that had just happened. Peggy was inside the hospital portion of it with Steve as nurses took his blood. The woman pulled out the needle of his body and put it with the others as Steve rolled his sleeve back down. "I think you've got enough."

"Any hope of reproducing the serum lies in your genetic code. Dr. Erskine was the only one who knew the original formula. Rogers and Stark are just credited for adding the one thing to make it work better and getting it inside your body." Peggy sighed sadly while looking down. "Even that task to finding the original formula would take years."

Steve sighed as he looked out the window to see Maria and Howard standing side by side, working on the technology the shooter tried to escape with. "He deserved more than this."

"If it could work only once, he'd be glad it was you." Peggy looked behind her to see Steve's sight of Howard and Maria. "And I know your sister is proud of you."

He looked at Maria, who was working away, and sighed a little. "She's so young." He shook his head. "She's had so much bad fortune in her life."

Peggy looked up at Steve, admiring how much he cared for his little sister even if he wasn't able to protect her a few hours ago. "She's strong." Peggy vouched for her. "She can handle it."

She smiled and nodded. "I know she can handle it, but I don't want her to handle it anymore. I don't want her to have to deal with any more death."

Colonel Phillips was walking with Senator Brandt side by side, on their way to Howard and Maria. They looked up at each other and rolled their eyes simultaneously. "My committee is demanding answers!" Senator Brandt yelled at him.

"Great, why don't we start with how a German spy got into my secret instillation in your car?" He was about to defend himself when Colonel Phillips looked to Howard and Maria. "What do we got here?"

Howard looked up at them, handing his wrench to Maria who took over what he was doing. "Speaking modestly, I'm the best mechanical engineer in this country."

Maria looked up at Howard while rolling her eyes, shoving the wrench into his chest and looking up at Colonel Phillips. "Point is, we don't know what's inside this thing or how it works."

"We're not even close to this technology."

"Then who is?"

They both opened their mouths to answer, but Colonel Phillips beat them to it. "Hydra." Senator Brandt looked at him blankly. "I'm sure you've been reading our briefings."

"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel." He reasoned.

Peggy walked into the room followed by Steve, giving him the answer for what Hydra was. "Hydra is a Nazi Deep science division led by Johann Schmidt, but he has much bigger ambitions."

"Hydra's practically a cult." Maria told them as she adjusted her trousers and leaned up against the machine they had taken a break from working on. They worship Schmidt. They think he's invincible."

Colonel Phillips looked at her questioningly and Howard shrugged in response. "_We_ read the briefings."

"What are you gonna do about it?" Senator Brandt asked Colonel Phillips with a bite of ferociousness.

Colonel Phillips just gave him an unamused smile and turned around to look at Agent Carter. "I spoke to the president this morning. As of today, the SSR is being retasked

"Colonel?"

"We are taking the fight to Hydra. Pack your bags, Agent Carter." He turned around to look at the two wiping their hands from the grease they collected from the submarine. "You too Rogers, Stark. We're flying to London tonight."

He turned around to walk off when Steve stopped him. "Sir, if you're going after Schmidt, I want in."

"You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo."

Steve rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. "The serum worked."

"I asked for an army and all I got was you. You are not enough."

"He's more than an army." Maria argued as she got out from where she was working, frustrated with no one seeing Steve's potential. She was even mad at herself for it.

"Only in your eyes, Rogers." She sighed an angry breath as he turned away from her and Steve watched him walk off, feeling worse about himself than he had when he was a little guy.

Maria was about to walk up to him when Senator Brandt got in her way. "With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point. I've seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country's seen it." He snapped to someone who was next to him without turning away from Steve. "Paper." When the man brought him the paper, he unfolded it, bringing it right up to Steve. "The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstand." He gave the paper back to the man who brought it and looked back to Steve. "You don't take a soldier symbol like that and hide him in a lab." Maria and Peggy shared a worried look at the fact that he was getting to him. "Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?"

"Sir," Steve spoke confidently. "That's all I want."

"Then congratulations." He shook his hand and studied him excitedly. "You just got promoted."

"Oh, Stevie," Maria whispered as she watched how interested he was. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

* * *

Bucky ran through the forest with his gun and Eddy Daniels by his side. They both were forced to hide behind a tree as enemy soldiers made their way out of the morning fog. Bucky looked over at the tree next to him where Dum Dum was hiding behind. He looked behind the tree and gave Bucky a nod.

Bucky and Eddy both hurried over to the tree where Dum Dum was hiding behind and let out deep breaths, feeling the adrenaline pump through them. "How many are there?" Bucky whispered, trapped in the middle of the two soldiers.

Dum Dum shook his head and tried to look behind a tree when bullets shot out, causing them all to squeeze together, all of them avoiding the bullets. "By the count of that," Dum Dum began. "At least a dozen."

Eddy looked over at Dum Dum, studying him worriedly. "How many of us are left?"

Dum Dum looked around and shrugged. "Just the three of us that I know of."

Bucky turned to look at Eddy with a deep sigh. "I promised my girl I would be home for our wedding." Bucky told Dum Dum.

"And you will." He assured him as he looked around the place. "We just have to make sure we can get out of here with all of us."

"How are we gonna-" There was the sound of a bang and all of them turned to see Eddy on the floor unconscious.

Before any of them could react, Dum Dum was hit in the back of the head and Bucky put his gun up to the one person who knocked out Dum Dum. He was a tall man, wearing a high officially Nazi uniform. Bucky was about to shoot when the gun was ripped from his hands by someone else and he was punched in the face, but not hard enough to knock him out. "Hello, Sargent Barnes." The man spoke in a thick German accent. "I am Dr. Johann Schmidt."

Bucky shook his head while looking at him, the other man holding on to him tight, making sure he couldn't go anywhere. "What are you gonna do, you cock-eyed bastard?" Bucky asked in an overly confident tone.

Johann laughed as he looked Bucky up and down. "The only thing I like about you Americans is how overly confident you all are." His face then got serious, scaring Bucky, but forcing himself to hold his ground. "It gives me more enjoyment when I kill you." He looked to the man who was holding on to him. "Take the others in the cells and take him into the lab." Bucky began to protest and kick, but the man was stronger than him.

When he was brought to their facility, the man who took him into the lab told him to take everything out of his pockets, but Bucky stood there defiantly. He wasn't going to cooperate with these men at all. That just frustrated the solider, so he decided to beat Bucky senseless, emptying his pockets for him. He found the picture of Maria in thigh highs and garters and smiled when he saw it. "Give me that!" Bucky yelled angrily, trying to get up from the floor.

The soldier simply punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious and slipped the photo into his pocket as he walked out of the door. That photo could be of use to them.

* * *

The star spangled man with a plan was captivating audiences of kids all over America. Though the people who were actually fighting the war didn't take amusement in him. He stood in front of a group of grown men after the girls had danced, but none of them were smiling. "How many of you are ready to help me sock ol' Adolph in the jaw." It was a dark day and rain was expected which was not helping the soldier's attitudes. They were just standing there, watching him. "Okay." Steve spoke, obviously disappointed, but keeping his smile. "I need a volunteer."

"We already volunteered!" One soldier in the crowd shouted out. "How do you think I got here?"

Everyone laughed when someone else yelled out, "Bring back the girls!"

Everyone cheered as Steve looked around, feeling himself getting flustered. "I think they only know the one song, but, um, I'll see what I can do."

Peggy and Maria were standing in the back of the crowd, watching on while biting their lips, hating to see Steve suffer like this. "You do that, sweetheart!"

"Nice boots, Tinkerbell!"

The two women rolled their eyes at their immaturity and wanted to help Steve more than ever at the look of his embarrassed face. "Come on, guys." He spoke in a tired voice. "We're all on the same team here."

"Hey, Captain!" One man from the audience spoke as he stood up. "Sign this!" He pulled his pants down, sending both Maria and Peggy's heads the other way since they weren't getting his butt like Steve was.

After he picked his pants up, someone threw some food at Steve who blocked it with his shield. Others began throwing it and he just sighed and hurried off the stage. It was breaking Maria's heart to see it. She loved her brother and he deserved so much more than this. He was meant for so much more. She turned to Peggy and took a deep breath, her hand on her hurting heart. "I'm going to check on Bucky's status and then I'll see Steve."

She nodded, giving her a slight smile. The two had gotten close with all the time they had been spending together. They were the only girls surrounded by Colonel Phillips and Howard Stark. Yes, Peggy had Colonel Phillips to talk to and Maria had Howard, but it was nice when they got to talk as girls. They had grown use to their girl time and wouldn't trade it out for anything. "I'll be with Steve, waiting for you."

She put a hand on Peggy's shoulder, smiling at her, appreciating that they had this friendship. "Thank you." Peggy nodded and Maria walked off to find Colonel Phillips.

Peggy wanted a time to talk to Steve. She felt bad for him and she still felt this connection with him. She didn't want that to go away. She found him sitting in the rain while sketching a dancing monkey with a shield like his in a notebook. She felt bad for him and all she wanted to do was talk to him about what he was going through. "Hello, Steve."

Steve looked up at her, shocked that she was actually there. The one girl he had been thinking about the entire time was finally there. "Hi." He spoke incredulously.

"Hi." She spoke again nervously while moving to sit next to them on the steps.

"What are you doing here?"

"Officially, I'm not here at all." She looked to him as she finally sat down, getting a good look at his face which she hadn't seen in months. "That was quite a performance."

"Yeah." He spoke, trying not to look at her from embarrassment. "I had to improvise a little bit." He looked back to her as he sighed. "The crowds I'm used to are a little more…twelve."

She wanted to make him feel better about what he was doing so with a slight smile she said, "I understand you're America's new hope."

"Bond sales take a ten percent bump on every state I visit." He spoke dully.

"That's Senator Brandt's idea." She told him with a knowing nod.

"At least he's got me doing this." He spoke as he put his pencil down and turned to her. "Phillips would have had me stuck in a lab."

"And these are your only two options?" She asked like she didn't believe that he would just give in so easily. "A lab rat or a dancing monkey?" They both looked down at the journal and Peggy sighed sadly at what he had become. "You were meant for more than this, you know?" Steve looked down, more sad than ever which was hurting Peggy. She had never seen him look like this before. He had absolutely no hope. He wasn't like the boy she first met. "What?"

"You know, for the longest time I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front line serving my country. I finally got everything I wanted and I'm wearing tights." Ahead of them, there was an ambulance and people rushed to get the hurt soldiers out. "They look like they've been through hell."

"These men move the most." She told him as she looked back to him. "Schmidt sent out a force to a zone. Less than fifty returned. Your audience contained what was left of the 107th."

Steve turned to her with wide eyes. "The 107th?!"

"Steve!" Steve turned around to see his sister soaking wet with a hysterically crying face. He didn't know if the water on her face was from the rain or the tears. "The 107th was taken."

He stood up and put his arm around her as they ran through the rain with Peggy following. They got to the tent where Colonel Phillips was sitting at a desk with papers in front of him. "Colonel Phillips." Maria yelled desperately with Steve still right by her.

"Well," He spoke with an unimpressed voice while looking at Steve. "If it isn't the star spangled man with a plan. What is your plan today?"

"I need the casualty list from Bolzano." He told him quickly as Maria was bouncing with nerves.

"You don't give me orders, son."

Maria rolled her eyes and looked to Steve who wasn't going to back down from Colonel Phillips. "I just need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th."

Peggy's eyes grew wide, now knowing why they were so desperate to find out more information. Maria's fiancé and Steve's best friend was in the 107th. Colonel Phillips looked to Peggy, giving her an annoyed sigh. "You and I are going to have a conversation later that you won't enjoy."

"Please," Maria cut in, feeling her breath quicken. "Just tell me he's alive, sir. B-A-R-"

"I can spell." He cut her off. He really didn't want to give her this information, but he knew it was essential. She had to know. That was her fiancé. "I've signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count, but…the name does sound familiar."

Maria closed her eyes and let a few tears fall down her face. Peggy moved to her, wrapping her arms around her neck as she cried on Peggy. Steve looked to her, sadly, feeling not only her heartbreak, but his own at his best friend possibly being dead. "What about the others?" He asked as he turned back to Colonel Phillips. "Are you planning a rescue mission?"

"Yeah," He told him with a shrug. "It's called winning a war."

Maria pulled away and looked to Colonel Phillips with her eyes wide at the fact that he wasn't going to do anything about her fiancé possibly being captured with other great men, Peggy also sharing her shock. "But if you know where they are, why not-"

"They're thirty miles behind the lines." Colonel Phillips told Steve obviously as he turned to the map behind him. "Through some of the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We'd lose more men than we would save." Maria was about to protest, but he turned to look at Steve. "I don't expect you to understand that because you're a chorus girl."

Steve looked to him, fuming with rage at this man, but keeping it all inside. "I think I understand just fine."

"Well then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you've got someplace to be in thirty minutes." He turned around and began walking around behind them.

Maria walked up to Steve and saw that he was looking at the map. They both looked at each other and nodded, knowing what they had to do. "Yes, sir, I do."

The two of them walked out of the tent and Peggy watched them, having an internal debate with herself as if to go with them or to tell Colonel Phillips. "If you have something to say, right now is the perfect time to keep it to yourself." She looked to him and sighed. She was going to follow them.

She finally caught up to them back stage, packing up some of the stuff for the Captain America show to use on their trip. "What do you two plan to do? Walk to Austria?"

"I'm finding Howard." Maria told her while putting on a rain jacket. "He'll help me no matter what."

"You heard the Colonel." She told her as she moved closer to her friend. "He's most likely dead."

"You don't know that." Steve protested.

"Even so, he's devising a strategy, it takes time."

"By the time he's done that, it'll be too late!" Maria yelled at her.

Peggy turned to Steve with a sigh, hoping that he could help her get some sense into Maria's head. "Steve."

He turned to her with a sigh and that's when Peggy knew that there was no way she was talking either of them out of it. "You told me that you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?"

"Every word." She told him confidently with a nod.

Maria turned to her with a sigh. "Then you've gotta let us go." She pleaded.

Peggy nodded again, knowing this was something they had to do. She wanted to help her friend find her fiancé and she wanted to help the guy she was falling for find his friend. "I can do more than that."

_**So, I just had my wisdom teeth taken out so I'm kind of high on pain meds right now. So, sorry if there's a few mistakes in this chapter. I have a reasonable excuse. I hope you all enjoyed!**_


	5. The Real Captain America

Maria stood in front of Howard with Peggy and Steve far enough behind her so they could have a private conversation. After she told him everything, he stared at her blankly, not knowing what to do. "You want me to risk my job and the trust that Colonel Phillips puts into me to get your fiancé back which would be going against the government?"

She stared at him, worried that he wouldn't actually do it. "Yes." She answered slowly, putting her hand to her mouth, beginning to bite her nails nervously.

Howard continued to stare at her. He could never say no to her even if he wanted to. "Well," He finally spoke, growing a slight smile. "You can only go against the government once in your life."

Maria squealed with delight and threw her arms around his neck as he hugged her back. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!"

Maria got out of the hug and Howard put a small kiss on her cheek before turning away. "I'll get the plane ready and meet you there in five."

Maria turned around and ran to them. "Howard's on board." Peggy smiled at her friend and leaned in for a hug, happy that they were going to do something to get her fiancé back. "We've got five minutes before the plane leaves." Maria told them both as she pulled away from the hug.

"That should be plenty of time." Peggy told them as she looked back at Steve who had a big smile.

"Alright," Steve said with a shrug. "Let's get what we need and get to the plane."

They all broke up, Steve getting some last few things he needed from backstage, Maria getting a transponder for Steve and Peggy getting a parachute and a map for Steve. When they met back up, Howard had just started up the plane and they all got in, ready for their mission.

Peggy and Steve were in the passenger part of the plane and Howard and Maria were sitting in the pilot and copilot part. Peggy had a map spread out for Steve to see and was working on getting a plan drawn out for him. "The Hydra camp is in Krossburg. It's up between these two mountain ranges. It's a factory of some kind."

Maria turned around to look at them with a small smile. "We should be able to drop you around the doorstep."

"Just get me as close as you can!" Steve yelled to them over the loud engine. He looked back to Peggy and sighed. "You know the three of you are going to be in a lot of trouble when you land?"

"And you won't?" She challenged with a slight smile.

He shrugged. "Where I'm going, if anybody yells at me, I can just shoot them."

"And they'll undoubtedly shoot back."

"Well," Steve spoke as he looked back to his shield. "Let's hope this is good for something."

"Agent Carter," They all looked over to Howard who was looking straight ahead. Maria also continued to look straight ahead, not paying any attention to what he was about to say. "If you're not in too much of a hurry, I thought we could stop off in Usurea for a late night fondue." Maria slowly turned to him with an annoyed look on her face at the fact that he was really hitting on Agent Carter out of all the other possible times in the world. She leaned to the side he was on and smacked him in the arm. He looked to her with a pained face while his arm was throbbing as Maria looked back to the windshield. "What?!" He yelled at her, but she just shook her head.

"Uh," Peggy began as she turned back to Steve, ignoring their little argument up front. "Stark is the best civilian pilot I've ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this air space. We're lucky to have him."

Maria scoffed from upfront which caused a glare from Howard, but she just stuck her tongue out at him. "So are you two…? Do you…?" Peggy looked back to the front, not understanding what Steve was getting at. "Fondue?"

Maria shut her eyes and put her hand on her forehead. Poor Steve would never understand women. She brought out a tracking device with only one button and a red light. "This is your transponder. Activate it when you're ready and the signal will lead us straight to you."

He took it from her and began to study it. He looked over at Maria, knowing she was responsible for it. "Are you sure this thing works?"

"It's tested more than you, pal." Howard told him with over confidence in Maria's work. He knew he didn't mean it in a bad way, but he was tired of men doubting her intelligence just because she was a woman.

The plane began to rock from being shot at, causing them all needing to grab something. They had just flown into the middle of an air battle and they were being taken as a threat. Steve stood up with his shield ready, causing Maria to get up from her seat to try and stop him. They were nowhere near the drop zone. "Get back here, we're taking you all the way there!" Maria told him, but he was already opening the door and putting his parachute on.

"As soon as I'm clear, turn this thing around and get the hell out of here!"

Peggy looked at Maria, knowing that was her big brother and he could boss her around, but not Peggy. "You can't give me orders!"

"The hell I can't!" He yelled back at her. "I'm a captain!" They both watched, wishing they could just do something as he gave them a slight smile, put his goggles on and jumped out of the plane. They both knew there was no way they were going to stop Steve from this. From proving he could do something.

* * *

Schmidt and Zola were planning on giving a few of the soldiers the super solider serum which they had "perfected". It would strengthen the evil parts of the people who had been given the serum. Bucky was their current test monkey. Dum Dum and Eddy were both being put into one of the cages filled with other prisoners of war and one of the soldiers continued to knock down Dum Dum's hat. He began to get tired of it, turning to him once he got into the cage with an annoyed smile. "You know, Fritz, one of these days, I'm gonna have a stick of my own."

The solider just threw the cage door close and Eddy sighed while looking at Dum Dum who turned around to look at him with an annoyed stare. "That was great." Eddy told him. "Perfect."

Dum Dum shoved him to the ground and rolled his eyes as he looked out to the other side of the cage. "Shut up."

Steve was hurrying through the forest that Bucky, Eddy and Dum Dum were taken at. He moved as fast as he could without getting caught when he came to the Hydra camp. It was heavily guarded with lights all around. Steve began to wonder if he would ever get a chance to get in without getting shot when equipment trucks were driving into the camp.

Steve ran up to the last truck and jumped in to find two Hydra soldiers studying him with a confused face. Steve nodded at them with a nervous face. "Fellas."

They both went for him, but Steve used his super soldier abilities to his advantage, knocking them out easily and throwing them onto the road. He wasn't sure where the truck was going, but once it stopped, he peeked out the back to see another Hydra solider going to check on what was in the truck. Steve put the shield in front of him, causing the Hydra soldier to turn his head to the side from confusion. Steve didn't waste any time, hitting him with the shield, sending him flying back.

He got out of the truck slowly, making sure no one saw him and strapped the shield on his back. He moved through the lot of all the equipment trucks and tanks Hydra used without being spot and got onto the roof of one of the buildings.

He quickly got into the major facility, deciding to knock on the door. When one of the men opened it, Steve bashed his face in with the door and punched him in the face. Steve dodged through the work room and found the super solider serums towards the back. Steve pocketed one and continued to go through the room.

Eddy was pacing in the small amount of space he was given in the cage. That's what a lot of the prisoners were doing. The other half of them were sitting down on the floor. Eddy began to worry about Bucky, wondering what was happening to him when one of the guards patrolling them fell on top of their cage. Everyone who was sitting down sat up and everyone who was pacing stopped to look up. A man was taking things from the guard and they all looked at each other with confused faces. One of the men decided to speak as everyone else standing around was quiet. "Who are you supposed to be?"

Steve looked down at them after checking to see if there were more guards. "Um," They all waited for him to finish, but Steve honestly didn't know what to say to them. "I'm Captain America."

He hurried down from the top of the cages as the men continued to stare up at him, still hopelessly confused. "I beg your pardon?" One of the French men asked while blinking.

Steve hurried, getting all the cages open for all the men to get out. Dum Dum and Eddy made a pact to stay together and once they got out of their cage, Dum Dum saw that there was an Asian man standing with all the soldiers. He began to get skeptical as he watched the man. "Are we taking everybody?"

He walked toward him, pulling out his dog tag with an annoyed smile. "I'm from Fresno, ace."

Dum Dum smirked at him and Eddy rolled his eyes at his ignorance. "Nice to have you." Eddy told him while leaning forward to shake his hand.

Steve was looking around frantically for Bucky, checking all the faces, but not finding him. "There anybody else?" He began walking with all of the other soldiers. "I'm looking for Sargent James Barnes."

Eddy's ears perked up at the sound of the name. "He was taken." He told Steve as he pushed his way to get up to his savior.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory." The French soldier informed Steve. "No one's ever come back from it."

Steve stopped walking and nodded, making a promise with himself right then and there that he was going to find Bucky. "The tree line is northwest, it's eighty years past the gate. Get out fast, and give them hell." He began walking ahead of the soldier he had joined, but turned back one more time to face them again. "I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find."

Eddy watched him beginning to walk off, wanting to do _something _to help this guy. "Wait." He called. Steve turned around and looked at him, knowing that look on his face since he had seen the same look in his for years. "You know what you're doing?"

"Yeah." Steve told him with a nod, trying to be polite, knowing what it was like to get turned down. "I knocked out Adolph Hitler over 200 times." They all watched him in wonderment, not knowing what to say to that and not knowing how it was possible, but deciding they had to get out now and distract the guards from what Steve was doing.

They all did as Steve said, giving Hydra hell and destroying the camp. Once Schmidt saw Captain America busting his way through all of his guards on the security cameras, he began to get angry. Almost jealous at what Erskine's experiment had become. He decided to turn on the self-destruct program, alarming Zola. "NO!" He yelled as he ran to him, pulling his hand from the switches. "What are you doing?"

He looked back to the screen and Zola followed the gaze. "Our forces are out matched." Schmidt continued the self-destruct system, sending Zola into a panic. The two began getting everything they needed that they couldn't let be destroyed.

When Zola got out of the room he was in, he saw Steve down the hall. The two stared at each other for a moment, but then Zola turned around, running the other way. Steve ran after him, but then looked to the room he had just came from. He slowly walked into the room to see Bucky strapped down to a seat. When he ran to him, he was mumbling nonsense. "Bucky?" He whispered. He still didn't respond. "Oh my god." He spoke as he ripped the straps from him. He saw that they had attempted giving him the super solider serum, which was making Steve very nervous, praying that it hadn't been given to his best friend. "It's me. It's Steve."

Bucky smiled as he was starting to come to. "Steve." He whispered.

"Come on." He whispered to Bucky as he put his arm around him and helped him up. Once he got him standing up, he smiled at his friend. He only wished Maria could be there to ease all her questions about what happened to him immediately. "I thought you were dead."

Bucky studied him confused, wondering if it was the drugs they had given him or if this was real. "I thought you were smaller."

Steve could hear the explosions from outside and decided that he had to get out of there. He pulled Bucky forward, knowing he still wasn't able to walk. "Come on."

"What happened to you?" Bucky wondered.

Steve shrugged, wondering how to even begin. "I joined the army."

Steve explained the entire thing to him about the super soldier project as they walked, trying to figure out how to get out of the building. "Did it hurt?"

Steve shrugged as he let go of Bucky's shoulders, glad that he could actually stand now. "A little."

"Maria perfected it?"

Steve smiled a little bit, knowing it was no shock to either of them. "Would there be any other?"

Bucky smiled a little bit, only wanting to see his fiancé at this point. He felt like it had been years. "Permanent?"

Steve looked back to him, making sure he was still keeping up with him. "So far."

Everything started to blow up on the lower grounds, and they knew they had to find a way to get out on the upper ground. As they ran to the very top part of the building, they heard someone yell out, "Captain America!" They both stopped to see Schmidt and Zola on the opposite end of them. "How exciting! I am a great fan of your films."

Steve knew who this person was right away. The only person it could have been was Schmidt. The two walked out on the bridge, ready to face each other for the first time. "So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all." Steve stared him down, never feeling more hate for anyone but this man. "Not exactly an improvement, but impressive."

Steve stepped forward, punching him in the face, sending Schmidt back from the shock of the punch. "You've got no idea."

Schmidt looked to him, part of his skin was drooping which left the part right by his eye red. "Haven't I?" Schmidt leaned forward and punched, but Steve just picked up his shield, Schmidt leaving a dent in it from the punch. Steve brought out his gun, not expecting him to be this strong, but Schmidt punched him in the face, causing him to fall back on the bridge and his gun to go flying from his hands. Steve kicked him in the gut, but before they could do any more damage to each other, Zola pulled the lever on the bridge, sending Schmidt back to him and Steve back to Bucky.

Schmidt got up from where he was thrown back and smiled triumphantly. "No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success." He reached at his jaw and began to tear his skin off. Under the mask was Schmidt's _real_ red face. He didn't resemble a human at all.

Bucky and Steve both watched in horror as he threw his mask into the fire. Only one thought was running through Bucky's mind at that point. "You don't have one of those, do you?"

"You are deluded, Captain." Schmidt told him while shaking his head. "You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind." He began to follow Zola to the door close by. The only door that would get them out of there. "Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. No fear."

"Then why are you running?" Steve threatened. Schmidt looked to him with a smile as he got in the door and pressed the button to close it.

Another bomb went off close by and Steve had to shield himself and Bucky from the flying debris. Steve looked to the door and then up, seeing there was only one more way to get out of here. He pushed Bucky to the stairs and got to the top frame of the building. "One at a time." Steve told Bucky as he urged him to walk on the frame first.

The frame was shaking as he walked and explosions were going wild underneath him, but he kept his mind on Maria. That was the only reason he was walking across the frame now. He had made a promise to come home and he was going to keep that promise. He almost fell as he walked and he knew the frame was about to go out from under him. He gathered up all his strength, ran and jumped off the frame as it fell, grabbing onto the railing and pulling himself up. When he was sure he was safe, he looked back to Steve, knowing he had to get him across. "We gotta get a rope or something!"

"Just go!" Steve yelled while throwing his hand at him, knowing he just wanted his sister to be happy and with Bucky she would be happy. "Get out of here!"

"No!" Bucky protested while throwing his hands on the railing. "Not without you!"

Steve sighed, knowing there was no way he was going to get Bucky out without getting himself out. He pushed back one of the pieces of the railing and ran all the way back, getting ready to jump. Steve sighed, knowing this idea was crazy, but it was the only way. He sprinted as fast as he could and jumped, barely making it. Bucky had to catch his arms and help him up.

After that, the two ran like hell to get out of there. Even when the entire building erupted in flames, they kept running, not daring to look back until they got to the clearing with all the other soldiers waiting for them. Everyone cheered for them and Bucky and Steve joined each other in a hug, afraid that they weren't going to make it. Eddy ran to his friend once he and Steve broke and met him in a huge hug. "Alright," Steve finally said when Eddy and Bucky broke away from each other, smiling at the two, happy that Bucky actually had friends in the military that he could trust. "Let's get out of here and get working on getting back home."

* * *

Peggy, Howard and Maria walked into Colonel Phillips's tent together as he read off the letter going to Senator Brandt about Steve's "passing." They all knew they were in trouble, but they all knew that the one who was getting in the most trouble was going to be Peggy. When he saw the three of them, Howard moved forward and gave him the pictures from a super-secret flight he and Maria had taken. "The last surveillance flight is back."

"No sign of activity." Maria answered with the usual energy sucked from her voice with the thought of Bucky and Steve being dead.

"Go get a cup of coffee, corporal." Colonel Phillips told the typewriter who got up without protest, leaving the four of them alone in the tent. He looked to Howard and Maria and sighed. "I can't touch you two. Stark, you're rich and the Army's number one weapons contractor. Rogers is your right hand." He turned over to Peggy sharply. "You are neither one."

"With respect, sir," Peggy spoke quickly. "I don't regret my actions and I don't think Captain Rogers did either."

"What makes you think I give a damn about your opinions?" Maria looked to him disgustedly at the way he acted. "I took a chance with you, Agent Carter and now America's golden boy and a lot of other good men are dead because you had a crush."

"It wasn't that." She told him, still confident in her decisions. "I had faith."

He didn't even blink, he came back with more jabs to her. "Well, I hope that's a big comfort to you when they shut this division down."

Outside, people began going crazy, running around frantically, pulling all four of them out of their private conversation. "What the hell is going on out there?" Colonel Phillips walked out first and the three of them looked at each other with a confused face before walking out of the tent and following all the other soldiers who were creating a huge crowd around something.

As they advanced towards the crowd, they saw a large group of soldiers making their way towards them. Maria's mouth dropped when she got a clear view of the two leading the group. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. She smiled brightly at all the men they were coming in with. The fact that her brother and fiancé saved all these people warmed her entire heart. Everyone cheered for him and once they came to a stop, Maria pushed her way past Colonel Phillips and jumped into Bucky's arms, not caring if he smelt like sweat and had dirt all over. "I love you, baby." She yelled as she nearly tackled him down. He smiled and held her back as tight as he could, appreciating that she was actually here with him, not caring if these people would make fun of him later because of this moment. This was no longer just a dream.

Steve looked to the two and smiled as Bucky figured out how to support his gun and her and then looked back to Colonel Phillips. "Some of these men need medical attention." The men who were crowded around the rescued began mingling with them, appreciating that their friends were alive. "I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."

Colonel Phillips studied him and Steve felt like he was about to tear into him when he finally said, "That won't be necessary."

Steve smiled at the man and Maria got down from Bucky to look at Colonel Phillips with a smile, surprised that he was actually letting it go. "Yes, sir."

Colonel Phillips turned around and looked to Peggy, giving her an expressionless face. "Faith, huh?"

Peggy smiled a little bit and looked right to Steve. "You're late." She told him as she walked right up to him.

He smiled back at her and pulled out the destroyed transponder. "Couldn't call my ride."

Howard looked to Bucky and Maria happily laughing with each other. He loved that she was happy, that's all he wanted, but he couldn't help also wanting her. He knew it was something he was going to have to get used to even if it was going to be very hard because what made her happy was Bucky.

"Hey," Bucky yelled out, quieting everyone around them. "Let's hear it for Captain America!" The entire crowd burst into applause and Bucky and Maria stared at Steve happily. They didn't originally want this for him, but he was happy and they were proud of everything Captain America had done. Not the dancing monkey Captain America, but the _soldier _Captain America. The real Captain America.


	6. Start of Time

The second the two got back into Brooklyn, they were all over each other. Maria and Bucky went back to their apartment together and spent the night making love and talking about life without the other. Maria was tracing one of the scars on his chest while taking in deep breaths of him. "I missed you." She whispered to him.

Bucky smiled slightly, planting a kiss on her temple and beginning to smell her strawberry scented hair. It was one thing that was never changing. "I missed you more." He continued to leave light kisses all through her hair when he finally asked, "Why didn't you ever tell me that Steve was a super soldier in one of your letters?"

Maria took a deep breath and looked to him. "I thought that was something he should tell you and I didn't want you worrying about anything else while you were over there." He nodded acceptingly and began to stroke her hair. "I thought I was going to die without you, Bucky." He began to kiss her head again as she breathed heavily, thinking about it all over again. "Those months were the hardest thing I had ever been through."

"Hey." Bucky told her as he adjusted to get a better look at her face. Her eyes were watering and just the look of it began to break Bucky's heart. "We don't have to think about that anymore, okay? Because it's not going to happen again."

She nodded and rested into his chest again. "Did you talk to Steve about how you wanted to get out of the Army?"

Bucky sighed as he continued to stroke her shoulder. "No. Not yet."

Maria propped herself up on her elbow and Bucky looked up at her as he kept telling himself that this wasn't a dream. Maria was right here next to him and they weren't going to be separated again. "You have to tell him, Bucky."

"I know." He spoke as his fingers danced on her shoulder.

Maria began to study him, knowing that look better than anyone. "What?" She questioned while cocking her head to the side.

He looked to her face and shook his head. "Nothing."

"No." She spoke as she began to shake her head and Bucky's head fell back as he sighed. "You're holding on to something. What is it?"

He smiled at her and continued to shake his head. "It's nothing. Why does every look have some kind of meaning with you?"

She sighed and rolled off of him, the two now laying side by side with each other. "Because every single look has a meaning." She turned to look at him and Bucky sighed as he looked at her, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could keep from her. "What is it?"

Bucky sighed as he leaned even further into the bed, turning on his side so she could see him. "I want to get out, I really do-"

"But you're going to miss it." She spoke obviously. He looked back to her and nodded while looking down sadly. "Then stay in the Army, Bucky."

He shook his head, looking into her blue eyes seriously. "I can't do that, Maria." She watched him confused, not understanding what he was getting at. "After everything I put you through, I can't do that to you again."

Maria's face softened and she put her hand on Bucky's face with a small, sympathetic smile. "Bucky, I love every bit of you and I know that you love being a soldier a lot-"

"Not as much as I love the thought of growing old with you."

"Let me finish." She told him soothingly while rubbing his cheek. "I know you love being a soldier and I know it's all you've ever dreamt of in your entire life, so if it's something you love then I need you to do that." He shook his head, about to protest when she put her finger to his lips. "I need you to be a soldier because I don't want the two of us to wake up in our seventies and the both of us blaming each other for how our lives turned out because we were keeping each other from living our dreams."

Bucky stared at her and wondered how he could be in love with the one woman who understood him more than anything. He didn't understand how he had gotten so lucky to find Maria. To be in love with Maria. To be engaged to Maria. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he couldn't wait to start their lives together when they were good and ready to start their lives together. "I will love you until the end of time." Bucky promised Maria as he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, slowly and lovingly.

Maria sighed as she closed her eyes, enjoying every single touch of the kiss, feeling every moment sending warm feelings all over her body. That's when she knew this love was real. She knew that they were going to be that kind of epic love you read about in novels. She knew that the beginning of their love was the start of time. That was the one moment when they could really begin living. She loved Bucky Barnes to the moon and back and would never give up on him. "I will love you, Bucky Barnes, until my heart stops beating."

* * *

The two woke up the next morning to another day off. With Bucky as a war hero and Maria as a brilliant scientist who was helping bring an end to the Hydra reign, they had a few days to just be by themselves and figure everything out. So did Steve and they would have spent time with him, but he insisted that they spent these rare days together. He knew that they weren't going to get many more like it. Maria woke up to the smell of breakfast from the kitchen. She stretched out in Bucky's shirt and sighed, feeling absolutely no ounce of stress. She now had nothing to worry about. "Bucky?" She called from the bedroom.

He walked into the bedroom with a silver tray in his hands. On that tray was waffles, eggs, coffee and bacon. Bucky had put a rose in-between his teeth while balancing the tray, causing Maria to laugh. He put the tray on her lap which made her smile. She exaggerated a bow and Bucky did the same. "Why, thank you, good sir."

He held the rose out for her which she took and he leaned in, planting a large kiss on her cheek. "You're welcome, my lady."

Maria smiled to him as she watched him walk to the other side of the bed and sit down next to her. "What do you want to do today?" He asked her lovingly while staring right into her eyes. "I want to do anything you want."

Maria shook her head and looked back down to her breakfast. "You already did this for me. I want to do whatever you want to do today." He shook his head and Maria smirked at him. She really didn't want to get into a fight with him about who got to do nice things for the other. "We compromise." Maria told him while pointing a finger to him.

He put his hands up while looking like he didn't want to mess with her. "Fine. We can compromise."

Maria bit her lip and sighed, leaning into him while tearing off a piece of bacon. "I haven't had a chance to go to the new art exhibit at the Met yet." He nodded while leaning in, pulling her head in for a soft kiss. "What do you want to do?" She asked when they finally slightly pulled away for air.

He sighed as he leaned even further into her. "You know what I want to do."

"Oh?" She raised her brow and he continued to smell her. He nodded and went down to her neck, planting small kisses all over it. "Bucky, you just made me breakfast and if you kiss me for one more second then it's all going to end up on the clean carpet."

He pulled away from her, regretting it as he got farther and farther from her lips. "I'll control myself." He told her with lust still hungry in his voice.

"Good." She told him while putting her breakfast on the nightstand. "I'm going to get ready."

He looked to the nightstand and shrugged. "I just made you breakfast."

She ran back into the room and picked another piece of bacon off of the tray, popping it in her mouth and smiling at him. "Thank you, babe."

* * *

After their day at the Met, the two joined up with all of the people who Bucky had considered friends in the war at a bar. Maria wore a sexy, curve hugging red dress with red lipstick that had all of the guys staring at her. Bucky didn't mind. She was beautiful and he felt like she should be stared at. She would never do anything and if anyone tried to do anything to her, he would murder them on the spot.

One of the things he loved about showing Maria off was the way she drank. She could out drink Bucky and any of these men sitting at the table. She wasn't even trying too hard. She was already beating out Gabe and Jim who were already starting to get tipsy. This was a way she could bond with Bucky's friends without feeling like just Bucky's girl. She was Bucky's best friend and one of the guys in a way.

The drinking competition stopped when Steve walked into the bar, going straight to them. "Hey." Maria greeted with a smile on her face. Steve sat next to her, pulling her in for a kiss on the cheek and looking to the rest of the guys, beginning to describe his plan to them about getting them involved with the SSR. Bucky excused himself about halfway through to go to the bar and Maria watched him worriedly, knowing that he still didn't know what to do.

After Steve was done explaining, Dum Dum put a mug of beer to his lips and began to drink some while looking at Maria who just rolled her eyes at him. "So, let's get this straight."

"We barely got out alive and you want us to go back?" Gabe asked as Steve shrugged.

"Pretty much."

"Sounds rather run actually." James told him while smiling happily.

Jim burped and Maria rolled her eyes at him while nudging him the arm. "I'm in." He spoke to Steve.

"What the hell else am I gonna do?" Eddy asked him while picking up his milk since he couldn't drink yet, causing Steve to laugh at the young boy's enthusiasm.

Jacques turned to Gabe and the two began speaking in French. They all watched, wondering if they were speaking passionately or angrily. The two then laughed and shook hands. They all waited for the answer as Gabe looked to them and shrugged. "We're in."

"Hell, I'll always fight." Dum Dum spoke while bringing up his mug of beer. "But you've gotta do one thing for me?"

Steve smiled as Dum Dum pulled the beer to his lips again. "What's that?"

"Open a tab." Everyone laughed and Steve stood up from the table, bringing over a few mugs to the bar. "Well that was easy." Dum Dum commented as Maria stood up to find Bucky sitting at the end of the bar looking miserable.

"Another round." Steve told the bartender as Maria went up to Bucky.

"Where are they putting all this stuff?" The bartender asked incredulously as he looked back to the group of men.

"Hey." Maria spoke as she sat down on the seat right next to Bucky.

He turned to her with a smile, pushing his hair back. "Hey."

Maria sighed and put her hand on his back. "You look like you're going through hell."

Bucky scoffed and pulled his drink to his lips. "I kind of am."

Maria felt so bad for Bucky. He was at a very hard place in his life. He was being pulled in two different directions and there was nothing she could do to help him. "I love you, Bucky, but I can't make a choice for you and I can't make you do anything, but I hope you know that I will stand by you no matter what you choose."

Bucky turned to her and gave her a small smile. "I know that." She smiled back at him, hoping this was making it somewhat easier. He leaned in and gave her a light kiss. Maria smiled as she pulled away from him. "How did I get this lucky to end up with you?" Bucky asked her as he stared into her eyes.

She sighed happily as she shrugged. "I don't know. You must have done something really good early down the road."

He laughed at her remark and leaned in for another kiss. "I am very lucky." He told her once he pulled away, a smile spreading all over his face, not being able to help how happy he felt around her.

Bucky looked behind Maria where Steve was coming up to them. Bucky pulled his drink to his lips and smiled at Steve. "See, I told you. They're all idiots."

"What about you?" Steve asked him dramatically as he sat down next to Maria, still looking to Bucky. "Are you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?"

Maria turned to him, ready to hear what his answer was for that. "Hell no." Maria looked to him, still rubbing his back, knowing that he had finally chosen. "That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. I'm following him." She looked back up at him with a bright smile, knowing he was doing what he really wanted to do. Something he loved. "Hey, you're keeping the outfit, right?"

"You know what?" Steve smiled and then looked to the Captain America tour poster nearby with a big sticker reading: canceled. "It's kinda growing on me."

The entire bar grew quiet, the three of them only hearing light talking. The trio leaned back at the same time to see what all the fuss was about and when they saw Peggy, their mouths dropped. She was wearing a red dress similar to Maria's, but better in every way. When she found him, the three stood up for her. "Captain."

"Agent Carter."

Bucky and Maria stood side by side, watching the two excitedly to see what would happen between the two. "Howard has some equipment for you to try." Steve looked over to Maria who shrugged at forgetting to mention it. "Tomorrow morning."

Steve smiled politely and nodded. "Sounds good."

A silence passed over them as Maria and Bucky both looked back and forth from Peggy and Steve, just hoping for something to happen. "I see your top squad is prepping for duty." She finally spoke.

Maria looked to Bucky, knowing that someone had to say something to get the ball rolling. "You don't like music?" Bucky asked her.

Peggy continued to stare at Steve like what Bucky said hadn't even mattered. "I do, actually. I might even, when this is all over, go dancing."

Maria looked back to Bucky, knowing that he also had to flirt with Peggy for Steve. "Well, what are we waiting for?" He asked her, knowing she wasn't going to look away from Steve even if he was on fire.

"The right partner." Peggy and Steve smiled at each other one last time before she turned around. "Pay attention, Captain."

"Yes, ma'am." He spoke about what she had originally come in for. "I'll be there."

Bucky and Maria both leaned forward to watch her walk off and when they looked back to Steve, they looked impressed. "I'm invisible." Bucky spoke in shock. "I'm turning into you."

"That's what happens when you have a fiancé." Maria told him while moving to stand right in front of him.

He smirked at her and rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. "And if you didn't have a fiancé, maybe she had a friend."

Bucky and Maria both looked over to Steve, sharing a smirk when Maria got on her tip toes to whisper in Steve's ear. "Don't screw this up."

* * *

Bucky and Maria were getting ready for bed. Bucky was brushing his teeth as Maria took off her earrings while staring at Bucky in the mirror. He finally looked to her with his toothbrush still in his mouth, feeling her eyes on him the entire time. "What?"

She smiled as she put the earrings in her jewelry box and turned to him, wrapping her arms on his biceps. "Nothing. I just love you."

"Why this time?" He joked as he gave her a little smile before leaning into the sink to spit. She smacked him in the back of the head when he finished spitting and he immediately put a hand to his head. "Ow!"

"Because you always follow your heart." He turned around to face her, putting his hands on her waist to pull her closer as he leaned against the sink. "You love being a soldier and that's what you're going to continue doing."

He rubbed her forearm and continued to smile at her. "You sure you want me to be like that? What if I do something that I love, but you're totally against?"

She shook her head and leaned even closer to him, their noses only an inch away from each other. "That will never happen. Because if you love it, I'll at least like it."

He chuckled as he put his hand on her cheek, pulling her in for a kiss as the two kept their smiles. "How am I this lucky to end up with you?"

She pulled a face and turned her head slightly to the side. "You already said that."

He looked right into her eyes, putting his other hand on her cheek. "I meant it." She was practically limp in his arms. Bucky had this power over her sometimes. He pulled her in for another kiss and she couldn't do much. Bucky being this romantic had taken the thought out of her. He had always been a smooth talker, but when he looked into her eyes and gave her that one look he only had saved for her, she was butter on a skillet. When they pulled away, Bucky smiled at her look and laughed out, "I love you."

She smiled, breaking out of her melted look and leaning in to give him a small peck on the lips. "I love you."

She grabbed his hand and led him to their room, turning out the lights and laying down on the bed, pulling him on top of her. They were going to make love again, but they didn't know that one passionate time without a condom would result in a baby boy.

_**This chapter was majorly Bucky/Maria fluff, but I really wanted a chapter of just them being cute and spending time together after they had been apart. I hope you liked it! Please review!**_


	7. Write That Down

Maria sat at a table, scribbling things down that they needed for the new weapons they were working on. They had to compete with Hydra on this and they had a lot of new technology. They really had to step their game up. Maria looked over at Howard who was messing with what Steve had brought over from the Hydra camp. Steve at first thought it was some form of the super soldier serum, but when they actually began to study it, they found that it was a Hydra weapon and inside it was the key to all their technology. "Howard," Maria began while looking at him curiously from her desk. "What are you doing?"

"Science." She rolled her eyes at his simple answer and went back to her list. "Initial signature is unusual."

Maria looked back to him, noticing there wasn't even a cover between him and the energy. "That unusual initial signature is gonna get you killed." Maria told him in a bored voice.

"Alpha beta remain neutral." He spoke, ignoring her again. "But I doubt Rogers picked up on that." Howard looked over to the assistant who was helping him and the two shared a laugh."

Maria dropped her pen and looked to him, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "Fine," They both looked to her as her heels clacked and she moved to some workers nearby who were assembling new weapons. "I hope you die, bitches."

Howard looked to her for a moment and then looked back to the energy source he was studying. "Don't mind her." He spoke to the assistant who was still staring at Maria worriedly. He began to get an idea he knew Maria wouldn't approve of and now she wasn't watching him like a hawk, so he could do it. "Seems harmless enough." He began to move the other claw towards the energy source, wanting both of them to be holding it. "Hard to see what all the fuss is about."

The second it touched the other claw on the machine, it burst, sending Howard flying back and everyone else to take cover. "Howard!" Maria yelled out once she got up from the floor.

Howard sat up from his spot slightly and began to breathe heavily, amazed with what this thing could do. "Write that down."

Maria hurried to him and helped him stand up, checking him for any serious wounds. "Why do I put up with you?" She scolded as she began to try to get to the dust off of him.

Howard shrugged while looking at her. "You'd be bored without me." She looked up at him with a tight smile, knowing he was right, but also not wanting to admit it.

Maria sighed and looked over at a table nearby. "You want to work on the shields we had planned to show Steve? That way I can keep an eye on you."

He laughed and nodded. "I think that's a great idea." Maria smirked and put his arm around her shoulders, guiding him away as he began to limp from the blast.

* * *

Maria stood in front of Bucky, sighing, not really wanting to do this. "Why?" Maria finally asked.

"Because," He sighed out as he moved to her and put her fists up. "You're going to be going with us to dangerous countries in dangerous situations and I want you to know how to protect yourself."

"I'm issued a gun." She complained as she put her fists back down.

Bucky let out an angry sigh and moved to her again, putting her fists back up. "And if you can't get to your gun at that moment then you need to learn how to defend yourself without it." She sighed again and the two looked at each other with their fists up. "Hit me."

"No." She told him immediately while shaking her head.

"Come on, it's not that big of a deal. Just hit me."

Maria sighed and leaned forward, sending her fist in his direction, but he just grabbed it. "What the hell?" She mumbled as his grip became tighter on her hand.

"No one's going to take it easy on you just because you're a girl." Maria moved her other fist quickly, hitting him on the side of the head. Bucky had to blink a few times. "That one was actually really good."

She gave him another punch in the face and Bucky looked to her like she was kind of annoying him. "You're the one who said that no one was going to take it easy on me out there."

He moved forward and grabbed both of her hands, putting them behind her as she began to laugh. With a smile, he lifted her up and she continued to squeal with laughter. He threw her down on the bed and began to tickle her as she kicked and screamed for him to stop all while she kept laughing. When he finally stopped, he let her catch her breath and she then said, "I thought you were teaching me how to defend myself."

He shrugged and sighed. "I got distracted." He looked down at her yellow nightgown. Matching her golden hair. The nightgown was now slightly up, revealing her panties and her belly button. "Damn, you have the perfect body." She rolled her eyes at him with a smile and he looked to her face with a smile. "I mean it."

Maria had always been self-conscious growing up. The kids told her she was too tall, she didn't do her make up and she never did her hair. When she grew up a little, she began doing her make up and her hair because that had always stayed with her. Bucky, though, fell in love with her the most when she wasn't wearing make up and when her hair was wild from her sleep. "Thank you." She finally spoke.

He stroked her cheek and planted a kiss on her forehead before rolling off of her and turning out the lamp light. "I know we said we would get married when I came back home, but I think we both knew it would be at the end of the war."

Maria turned to face him and laced her fingers through his, leaning to their enclosed hands and planting a kiss on the back of his hand. "We'll get married at the end of the war." She promised. He nodded and leaned in to kiss her one last time before they began to go off into their sleep.

* * *

It had been about a month and Howard and Maria were almost done coming up with all their new weapons. All they needed was for Steve to approve a shield and then get it painted. Maria was currently not feeling good at all. She had thrown up in the morning and even though Bucky tried to force her to stay, she went to work anyway. Howard noticed the way she was acting and just brushed it off, knowing she would only refuse at him trying to send her home.

Steve began to walk through their underground facility. After the call from Maria in the morning about the shield ideas, he knew he had to get their early or face her when she was angry and her moods had been all over the place lately causing the littlest things to set her off. He looked all around for his sister and Howard and when he couldn't find them, he decided to ask for help. He saw a young, beautiful Private reading a newspaper while sitting on a desk. She was the only person in the near vicinity so he decided to ask her. "Excuse me?" She didn't even take her eyes off the paper, but he decided to go ahead and ask her anyway. "I'm looking for Mr. Stark and Miss. Rogers."

"They're in with Colonel Phillips." Steve nodded and began to look around while continuing to keep his hands behind his back. When the Private looked up at him, she had to do a double take, immediately recognizing his face from the paper she was currently reading. He looked to her and a smile spread across her face, her voice beginning to turn seductive. "Of course, you're welcome to wait."

Steve nodded politely and moved over to a desk right across from where she was siting. The Private then moved the paper and fold it in half so he would see the headline. "I, uh, read about what you did."

"Oh," He spoke blandly while pointing to the paper as she put it down. "Yeah." He didn't really like all the attention he was getting. "I was just doing what needed to be done."

"Sounded like more than that." She spoke as she crossed her legs, keeping her seductive smile. "You save nearly 400 men."

He sighed, beginning to pick up when women were attracted to him and she wasn't keeping it subtle as she ogled him. "Really, it's no big deal."

She got up from where she sat and began to move towards him, making Steve nervous. "Tell that to their wives."

"Uh," He crossed his arms, looking everywhere but at her. "I don't think they were all married."

She shook her head while continuing to stare at him. As far as she knew, Captain America was single, but she didn't know that he was saving himself. "You're a hero."

"Well that…you know." He began to scratch his forehead, not really knowing what to do about the situation. "That depends on the definition of…"

She laced her red nail polished fingers through his tie, continuing to smile seductively. "And the women of America owe you their thanks." She began to pull him out of the open hallway and to the desk she saw sitting at before. "And seeing as they're not here." She pulled him in for a kiss which Steve was surprised by. He honestly had no idea what to do. He decided not to be rude and pull away from her so he put his hands on her waist.

Peggy rounded the corner of the hallway and once she saw Steve kissing the Private, she put her hands on her hips. She thought Steve would actually wait for her. She never in her wildest dreams expected to see Steve Rogers making out with some random girl. She was just getting angrier and angrier. "Captain!" They both pulled away from each other and once Steve saw Peggy, he felt so guilty and he knew he was in trouble. "We're ready for you, if you're not otherwise occupied."

She turned on her heels and Steve began hurrying after her. "Agent Carter, wait!"

"Looks like finding a partner wasn't that hard after all." She was trying to hurry so she wouldn't be by him anymore, but he was unfortunately keeping up with her.

"It's not what you think." He promised as he continued to wipe his mouth.

"I don't think anything, Captain. Not one thing." She didn't turn to him as he adjusted his tie, still wishing none of it had ever happened. "You always wanted to be a soldier and now you are. Just like all the rest."

Yes, Steve had kissed another woman, but she didn't give him a chance to explain himself and he still felt insecure at the thought of Peggy and Howard. "Well what about you and Stark?" She stopped walking with him about a foot behind her. She honestly had no idea what he was talking about. "How do I know you two haven't been…fondueing?"

Peggy turned around and looked at him like he was an idiot. She couldn't believe he didn't know what fondue was. After a few seconds of idiotic staring, she shook her head and turned away. "You still don't know a bloody thing about women."

Maria walked up to see Steve watching as Peggy walked away from him. "Hey." She called, not realizing anything was wrong with him from his back. "We're ready for you."

He turned around quickly and looked to her flustered. "_What_ is fondue?!"

Maria stood there for a minute and then rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what this was referring to. "Howard!" Maria called before turning around.

"What?!" He yelled out, fearing that he was in trouble as she hurried to him with Steve behind her.

Maria walked into the room he was last in and couldn't see any sign of him anywhere, but she was certain this is where she had heard his voice. "Where are you?"

He moved out from under what he was working on which was right in front of Maria. She jumped back along with Steve and gave him an annoyed face. He looked up at her with a sarcastic smile and put his hands out dramatically. "Right here."

She rolled her eyes and leaned down to pick him up by the shirt. He whined and complained as he was forced to stand up and right when he was face to face with her, she put her hands on her hips. "You ruin everything."

"What did I do _this_ time?" He asked her dramatically.

She turned to Steve and shook her head at him. "He thinks you and Peggy have a thing going on because you asked her to fondue."

Howard looked to Steve who nodded while crossing his arms, trying to show he meant business. Howard smiled a little bit and moved to him, putting his arm around his shoulder, walking him over to where he needed him. "Fondue is just cheese and bread, my friend."

Steve uncrossed his arms with realization passing over his face. Maria began to smile as the two walked past her. "Really?" Steve asked like the truth blew his mind.

Maria moved past the two with her hands behind her back, practically galloping at her entertainment of the day. "Yup."

"I didn't think-"

"Why should you, pal?" Howard looked over at Maria who was getting the last bit of the new equipment checked. "The moment you think you know what's going on in a woman's head, is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked." A strand of blonde hair began to fall in front of her goggles as she looked down one of the weapons and Howard was mesmerized and he knew that she would never move that loose strand out of her face. He thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. "Me? I concentrate of work." Steve looked over to where he was staring, not understanding until he saw that Howard's eyes were on Maria. Howard blinked a couple of times and clapped his hand on Steve's shoulder, bringing Steve back to their conversation. "Which, at the moment, is about making sure you and your men do not get killed."

He moved over to something being covered and once he took off the sheet, Steve saw it was a version of his shield. "Ah," Maria spoke as she moved to them with a smile on her face. She picked up and held it so Steve could get a better look at it. "Carbon polymer." She turned it around so Steve could get a full look at it. "Should withstand your average German bayonet."

"Although, Hydra's not going to attack you with a pocket knife."

Maria turned to Howard and smiled as she began to walk backwards as he walked forwards, the two keeping in perfect step. Steve watched the two, realizing for the first time how much chemistry the two had. "You're gonna need something stronger." Maria told him as she picked up the costume shield he used for the shows. "I hear you've become quite attached."

She pushed the shield out forward and Howard took it, putting it back down without missing a beat. "It's handier than you might think." Steve told them while looking down at his shield kind of sadly.

"We took the liberty of coming up with some options." Howard told Steve as they moved to another table which was covered in shield prototypes.

Howard and Maria began to explain all of his options when something under the table caught Steve's eyes. "What about this one?"

"No, no." Howard told him quickly, but Steve had already picked it up.

"What's it made of?" He asked in shock of the lightness.

"Vibranium." Maria told him with a slight smile, knowing that Steve was going to find that one. "It's stronger than steel, and a third of the weight."

"It's completely vibration absorbent."

Steve looked down at the thing in wonderment as he put it through his arm. "How come it's not standard issue?"

"That's the rarest metal on earth." Maria told him while leaning on the table while smiling proudly at the shield.

"What you're holding there is all we've got."

"Are you quite finished?" They all turned to see Peggy walking into the room, still looking pissed. "I'm sure the Captain has some unfinished business."

Steve looked to her, not picking up on how pissed she still was. He put the shield in front of him and gave her a small smile. "What do you think?"

Peggy looked at him while the wheels turned in her head. She picked up a gun from a nearby table and held it up to Steve. With a panicked face, Steve put the shield to his face and everyone got down as she shot the gun three times directly into the shield. A tense silence passed over them all as Steve brought the shield down and Peggy smiled as she put the gun back down. Howard and Maria peaked up from the table they were hiding behind, followed by slowly standing up. "Yes." She told him a cheery voice. "I think it works."

Howard and Maria walked up to Steve as Peggy walked away. All of their eyes were stuck on her, still not believing that Steve pissed her off _that_ bad. "I had some ideas about the uniform." Steve told them as he handed Howard a small piece of paper."

Howard took it from him and slipped it in his pocket without even looking at it, eyes still on Peggy. "Whatever you want, pal."

* * *

Bucky and Maria held hands as they waited in the doctor's office. Women all around them had children sitting in their stomachs and Maria couldn't stop looking back and forth at all of them, knowing there was a very strong possibility that she would look like them in a few months. Bucky was tapping his feet while looking down at his hands and leaning forward. They had gotten Maria tested last week and they were waiting on the results. Bucky was nervous about being a father, but knew he wasn't going to leave Maria. He was going to marry her if she was pregnant and they were going to raise that baby together. "Maria?" The receptionist called.

They both looked up with a panicked expression and then looked to each other. With their hands still laced together, they stood up and walked into the patient room together. They were in there alone, waiting on the doctor to show up. The two still held hands as Maria sat in the patient chair and Bucky in the waiting chair. She looked to him, giving him a slight smile. "I'm nervous."

Bucky nodded, giving her hand a light squeeze before kissing the back of it. "I'm nervous too."

The door opened and their doctor came in. He was a very tall, older man with light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. They both gave the doctor a nervous smile as he sat down in his chair, sharing the usual 'hellos' and 'how are you doings'. "So," Their doctor began while beginning to open up the file. Their grip on each other's hands tightened. "Let's get to the results." There was an intense moment that passed as he found what was written on the file. He looked up to them, giving them a light smile. "You're pregnant."

Maria let out a breath and turned to Bucky who seemed to be frozen. "Bucky?" She questioned.

"Is this good news?" The doctor asked while looking back and forth at Maria and Bucky.

She turned to him with a reassuring smile and shook her head. "It's good news. It really is."

"He must just be shocked." He told her as she turned back to look at Bucky. "It's common with new fathers."

"Father." Bucky repeated slowly.

"Bucky?" Maria asked slowly. He let go of her hand and fell off the chair as he fainted and Maria stood up rapidly. "Bucky!"

* * *

Bucky woke up with an ice pack to his head and he groaned. As he fluttered his eyes open, he got a view of Maria standing over him. "Maria?" He groaned out as he tried to sit up.

"Take it easy." Maria told him as she tried to ease him back down.

He groaned again and closed his eyes, trying to adjust to the light all around him. "What happened?"

"You fainted." He jumped at the sound of the doctor's voice and turned to see him right next to him. "You hit your head pretty hard too."

Maria stifled a laugh and they all turned to her, giving her a serious face. She looked up at both of them and shrugged, her face getting serious. "Sorry. I just thought of it again."

They all looked back to Bucky who began to nod, letting it all come back to him. "We're gonna have a baby." He spoke as he looked to Maria. She nodded as a smile spread across his face. Bucky began to laugh with delight at the idea of the two being parents. "We're gonna have a baby." He spoke as he sat up. She nodded again, laughing happily as she covered her mouth. He looked down at her stomach. She was far from showing, but he knew that his baby was inside there. He put his hands on her stomach and smiled at it, putting his face to the dress she was wearing. He shut his eyes and let out a happy smile. "We're gonna have a baby."


	8. Apple Blossom Time

Maria hurried into her dressing room and threw her dress on a nearby desk. "This is insane." Steve spoke as he followed her in.

Maria turned around and smiled at him. "I want to do it."

Steve shook his head as he sighed. "How many people did you call?"

She shrugged before taking all of the things out of her bag. "Everyone who could get here in two hours."

The door burst open and Peggy ran in, not even noticing Steve, just her friend. They grabbed each other's hands and Peggy looked right into her eyes. "You sure you want to do this?"

Maria nodded happily while letting out a happy sigh. "I've never wanted anything more in my entire life."

Peggy pulled her into a hug and when they let go, Maria finished pulling out her hair and make up products. Peggy turned to Steve and waved him out the door. "We have a lot to do in two hours." When Peggy slammed the door in his face, he stood there for a moment and then moved to the room right next to Maria's.

Bucky was straightening out his tux and when he turned around, he smiled at Steve with a shrug. "What is going on?" Steve asked him as they both stood side by side, looking at his tux.

Bucky turned to him with a slight smile. "I can't tell you. It's a secret."

Steve rolled his eyes as Bucky clapped him on the back. "This is crazy." Steve finally laughed out as Bucky walked back to his suit, smiling like crazy. "You can't get a wedding together in two hours!"

"We're in love." Bucky told him with a shrug.

"In love or not, this idea is still insane even for the two of you."

Bucky walked up to him and put his hands on his shoulders. For the first time, Bucky had to reach up to touch his shoulders. "Sometimes, you have to do things because you love each other."

Steve watched him, beginning to get worried about why they had decided to have this wedding so quick. "Are you guys afraid something is going to happen?"

Bucky sighed and moved back to his suit, taking it off its hanger. "Maria's a little worried." He lied. "And she'd much rather us get married now when we can rather than after the war when we might not be able to."

Steve moved towards him, stopping Bucky from turning around to go put on his suit. "Nothing's going to happen, Buck." Bucky gave him a slight smile and Steve pulled him in for a hug. "I won't let that happen."

"I know." Bucky whispered as he pat his back.

"I love you." Steve told him as they pulled away.

"I love you too, bud." He told him as he pat his shoulder.

Steve shrugged with a smile growing. "I'm with you til the end of the line."

Bucky chuckled and hit his arm. "You're taking my lines now?"

"I needed something bad ass to say."

* * *

The guests found seats in the church. Bucky skipped out on having all the groomsmen and Maria on all the bridesmaids. All they needed was Steve and Peggy standing up there with them. Peggy had done Maria's make up as she did her own hair and in what seemed like very little time, they were ready for the wedding.

Maria was straightening out her dress nervously when someone knocked on the door. "Come in." Peggy called as she put the veil on her.

Steve opened the door and when he saw his sister, his mouth dropped. Her blonde hair was pulled back into an elegant loose bun and she had diamond jewelry all over. Her make up was neat and sparkly, but didn't miss out on the common red lips. She smiled at Steve once he saw her and picked her hands up as if to ask his opinion. "What do you think?"

He smiled slightly and moved towards her, taking her hands in his. He didn't think he was going to get emotional on her wedding day, but she just looked so perfect. It made his eyes water. He wasn't sure if he wanted to let her go even if he knew she was going to be with the best guy in the world. She was growing up. He didn't like it, but his baby sister was growing up. "You look absolutely gorgeous."

She smiled at him and he pulled her in for a hug. Maria also felt like this was a bittersweet moment. She was excited about finally getting married and being pregnant and having a family, but she was also sad that she was leaving all of the things about being a young adult. She was going to have to be a real adult now. She was going to have to be a grown up. Maria leaned in to hug him and Peggy walked past them. "I'll give you a moment."

When she shut the door, Maria sighed. "Steve, I'm kind of scared."

He rubbed her back, remembering moments like these from when she was a teenager, but he was never taller than her. "You don't have to be." He pulled away from her and held her arms, looking right into their matching eyes. "Because you're always going to have me."

She sighed and shut her eyes as he leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead sweetly. It was just the way her father would when she was younger. "I love you." She whispered to him.

He stroked her cheek the way their mother would and she leaned into his hand, knowing Steve got the best things from them both. "Mom and dad would have been really proud."

She opened her eyes and gave him one of the biggest smiles she had, feeling a tear began to fall out of her eye, but Steve caught it. "Ready to walk me down the aisle?"

He put his arm out and she looped hers through his. "I've never been more ready for anything in my life."

"Except joining the Army?" She joked as he opened the door for her.

He pulled her closer as they began their walk down the hall to get to the front of the church. "Shut up."

* * *

Maria took a deep breath as the church doors opened for her. All eyes went to her and everyone stood up. She looked at all of her guests, happy that so many of them could come. Howard smiled at her and she smiled right back. She was beautiful and he was happy for her, but he couldn't fight this feeling of sadness weighing him down. All of the soldiers were sitting up front, all taking off their hats for her as she walked by. She really didn't know, though. Her eyes were glued to the front. Peggy stood by Bucky, both of them watching her in wonderment.

When they reached Bucky, Steve slowly moved his arm from hers and kissed her forehead before standing on the other side of Bucky. Peggy and Steve were directly across from each other and the two slowly smiled, knowing that they couldn't be mad at each other anymore. Especially on this day.

The minister had them standing right in front of him, but their hands were still locked together. A table stood in front of the minister that had two wine glasses and a bottle. He smiled at the two who had such bright, young, excited eyes and began the ceremony. "The poet Kahlil Gibran once wrote: _Love one another, but not make a bond of love. Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread, but not eat from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone. Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together, for the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow._"

The minister turned to Bucky and smiled. "Bucky, when you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way from moment to moment. That is impossible. It is even a lie to pretend it is possible. And yet that is exactly what most of us demand. We insist on permanence, on duration, on continuity. The only continuity in life as in love is in growth, in fluidity, and in freedom, as dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in creating the same pattern."

Bucky nodded in agreement before the minister turned to Maria. She took a happy sigh and nodded excitedly, for him to tell her what he had to say. "Maria, the only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not even in hoping. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back nostalgically to what it was, not forward in dread or anticipation to what it might be. It is loving in the present relationship, accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, which one must accept for what they are here and now with their limits, islands surrounded and interrupted by the sea, continually visited and abandoned by the tide. One must accept the security of the ebb and flow of intimacy."

The minister reached out for the wine and began to pour it in both of the glasses. "The years of our lives are a cup of wine poured out for us to drink. The grapes when they are pressed give forth good juices for the wine. Under the winepress of time, our lives give forth labor and honor and love. Many days you will sit at the same table and eat and drink together. Drink now and may the cup of your lives be sweet and full to running over."

They both reached out and drank a sip of the wine then put it back down. "Now, Bucky and Maria, will you take vows here, before all of us, which symbolize the many unseated vows you have already made and will continue to make to each other throughout your relationship?"

They both nodded and he gestured to Maria. The two turned to each other and Maria took a nervous breath before beginning. "The words I say to you now are ones I have waited a lifetime to utter, words I say in love and in confidence. I see you as a strong, growing partner, the person with whom I wish to share my life. I offer you all the days before me, no matter what may come our way. I freely take you, James Buchanan Barnes, as my husband."

She slipped the ring on his finger and once she was done, Bucky looked to her, smiling at the way her eyes shinned. "I promise to stand by you, to be there when you need me, and to share the happiness and sadness of my life with you. If the secret of life is to enjoy the passage of time, then let us share our time together from this day forward. I come to this place today as a man standing alone; I will walk from it by your side. Today, I shall carry you across the threshold and enter into a new and lasting lifetime commitment. I commit myself to you, Maria Violet Rogers, as your husband."

Bucky put the ring on her finger and she gasped once it was perfectly on. He then leaned forward and removed the veil from her face and held her hands as the two waited for the final words in anticipation. "When you share a joy, it is doubled and when you share a sorrow, it is halved. You have both pledged your love to each other before these witnesses. Therefore, by the authority granted to me, I joyfully pronounce you husband and wife."

The two leaned forward and kissed as everyone erupted in applause, standing up from their seats to cheer for them. When Howard stood up, he clapped and he was happy for her even if he also felt like he was breaking inside.

* * *

Maria had planned on getting The Plaza for the reception with all the money she had made from the super soldier project, but with the short notice, they settled on another close by hotel ballroom. They both didn't care where it was, just as long as they could have fun along with their friends.

Like Maria promised, they both had their first dance to _I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time_. Maria and Steve had a brother/sister dance and now everyone was dancing. Maria smiled as she saw the girls dancing with their boyfriends and the Howling Commandos drinking and laughing too hard with Bucky and Steve. She had just got done dancing with Peggy and she was now sitting down, looking around at everyone else having fun.

A slow song began to come on and Howard approached her. "Can I steal you?" He asked as he took her hand, not even waiting for her to answer him. The two began dancing, but Maria looked everywhere but him. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" He asked her.

"I don't know." She spoke as she finally looked to him. "I'm dancing with my boss at my wedding. It's a little weird."

He shrugged. "I could fire you and take the edge off"

She smirked at him and rolled her eyes. "I don't think you'd be able to survive without me."

"I'd last." He spoke with a shrug.

"Maybe five minutes."

The two laughed and leaned into each other a little bit, sharing a moment when Maria caught herself, causing Howard to also look away. "You want to get some air?"

"Yes, please." They let go of each other that instant and moved to go sit down at her table. She shook her head as she turned to him. "That was weird."

"We were dancing." Howard spoke quickly, trying to act like it was no big deal, but they both knew what had happened out there. "It was just a dance."

"It was not just a dance." She complained. "You don't understand because you're you." He furrowed his brow at that. "And everybody knows exactly who you are and how you are with girls and all that, which is completely fine. But you're my boss and this is my wedding and we were dancing."

"I don't think it was taken like that." He told her as he shook his head, just trying to make her feel better.

"It makes me look like I'm trying to…"

"I think you're overreacting."

"And I'm wearing this huge dress." She went on as Howard continued to stare at her, knowing he had to make this seem like nothing for her. "And we were dancing-"

"Maria," He spoke, cutting her off, causing her to look at him finally. "It was just a dance."

She took a deep breath and began to think that maybe she really was overreacting. She began to smile and nodded which made Howard smile even more. "You're right."

He shrugged at her. "Of course I'm right."

"Sorry, Howard." Bucky spoke as he moved up to the two. "I need to steal her for the final dance." Howard smiled at him and nodded. He wished that Bucky was a bad guy. He wished he was someone he could hate, but he couldn't. Bucky was a really great guy and Maria really did deserve a great guy.

Maria turned to him and gave him a smile which he really enjoyed looking at. "See you at work." He nodded and Bucky took Maria's hand, guiding her to the dance floor. Howard continued to watch the two as they danced, knowing that he didn't deserve Maria. Even if his feelings were this strong, he didn't deserve her.

One of Maria's friends walked up to Howard nervously, sitting where Maria had sat before Bucky stole her. "Hi." She spoke nervously as Howard continued to stare at the two who were smiling happily and kissing each other. "I don't mean to bother you, but aren't you Howard Stark?"

Howard looked down at a glass of champagne and shrugged. "What the hell?" He picked up the glass, chugged it and turned to the girl with a winning smile. "I am. What's your name, sweetheart?"

* * *

Maria laid down on the bed as Bucky ran his hands down her body, stopping at her stomach. He slowly brought himself back down and began to place small kisses all over her stomach. He was so happy that they were finally married and that his baby was resting in her stomach. It all seemed like a dream that was way too good to be true. After years of being in love with her, it was finally clear to everyone.

Maria brought his face back to hers and began to nibble on his ear. She couldn't believe that the small crush she had on the boy who grew up across the street from her, led here. Led to a marriage. Led to a child. Led to her future. Led to pure happiness. No matter what happened, she would always love Bucky Barnes. It was like it was embedded in her. Part of her DNA. Something that would always be a part of her soul because he was her other half.

They were together. They were married. They had a baby on the way and the hopes of the future. The hope of raising their child right, becoming grandparents and growing old together. They had all this hope for a life together, but they didn't know it wouldn't work out. They didn't know that a life together as a married couple was just a dream they were clinging to that slipped through their fingers too fast.

_**Sorry for this late night update, I'm going to be super busy in the next few days with the job I just got and my other story Bree Stilinski is going to need to be up soon so I'm trying to crank out the rest of the chapters to this story. I hope you liked the wedding even if this chapter kind of had a dark ending. Anyways, I was thinking of starting a Melody Scribbles type thing that's full of one shots from the Melody Barnes series. Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in. Maybe I'll put a poll up. I don't know yet. I'm kind of rambling now so I'm just going to stop. Please review!**_


	9. The Winter Soldier

"YOU ARE FAILING!" Schmidt was beyond furious about all of his Hydra compounds being destroyed by the Howling Commandos. He turned to Zola, boiling over with rage, his red face making him even scarier. "We are close to an offensive that will shake the planet, but we are continually delayed because we cannot out a simpleton with a shield!"

Zola began to hurry after him in the rubbish of the destroyed compound. "This isn't my area of expertise. I am merely develop weapons. I cannot fire them."

Schmidt just stared down at him, still feeling the rage. "Finish your mission, doctor, before the Captain finishes his."

"Sir!" They both turned around to see his masked guards approaching with a man in a dirty torn suit.

"I'm sorry, sir." He spoke nervously. "We fought until the last man."

Schmidt pulled one of the Hydra weapons out of his belt and aimed it right at the man. "Evidently not." When he shot it, the man completely vaporized. Zola had to turn away, disgusted with all of it.

Schmidt tried to walk away, but one of the masked soldiers pulled him to the side to talk to him. "Sir, I found a picture in one of the Howling Commandos' pockets when we first captured them." Schmidt's brow furrowed so the soldier pulled out the picture and gave it to him.

Schmidt studied the picture of Maria in the thigh high and garters, knowing she looked familiar. It suddenly hit him. This was Captain America's sister. Not only Captain America's sister, but the now wife to Steve's best friend. He began to smile, knowing they had a way to get to the Howling Commandos. He looked back to the masked soldier, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you very much. You've been very helpful." The soldier nodded and walked off.

Schmidt looked back down at the photo, beaming with delight. "Dr. Zola!" The short man hurried over to him when Schmidt pushed the picture into his hands. He studied the picture in confusion, not understanding what he was supposed to do with it. "Find the girl in that picture. She could be the key to finally ending the Captain and the perfect candidate for our new project."

* * *

Maria and Howard were doing weapon repairs while the boys were out on a mission. Howard began studying one of his guns that seemed almost unrecognizable. "I don't think I can fix this one."

Maria looked up from the weapon she was oiling and shrugged. "Then toss it into the pile and we'll burn it down and use it for another weapon."

He sighed, got up and moved into the other room to find the pile of damaged weapons that had been collected since they went overseas. "You know," Howard began as he looked down at the pile sadly. "They really need to be a lot more careful with my weapons."

"They're in a war, Howard." Maria laughed out from the other room.

"They can still be careful." He leaned down to place it with the others when he heard crashing from the room Maria was in. He straightened up and the noise suddenly stopped. "Maria?" He called out.

She didn't respond so he slowly walked into the other room, getting the gun strapped to his belt ready. When he looked inside the room, he saw that a masked Hydra soldier had a gun to Maria's head, holding her in a choke hold as tears streamed down her face. Howard picked up his gun to shoot him, but the soldier was faster. He pulled the gun away from Maria's head and shot Howard. She screamed as he fell and he gripped her neck tighter, forcing her out the door as she began kicking and screaming for him to let her go.

They walked down the hall for Maria to see all the people she had worked with lying dead on the floor. They had killed them all just to get to her. When they got outside, the cold hit her immediately and Schmidt with his red face stood in front of her. The soldier let go of her and pushed her into Schmidt as she looked up at him in fear. "Maria Barnes I take it?"

She swung her fist back and nailed him in the face. "Get the hell away from me, you ugly son of a bitch!"

She pushed past him and tried to run away, but another soldier stood in her way. Schmidt then grabbed her hands as she continued to kick, scream and claw, anything she could do to try and escape. "Calm down, sweetheart." He got her into a choke hold as her arms flailed around, trying to hurt him in some way so he could let go, but he was too strong. Her fight got slower and slower until she passed out from the lack of oxygen and Schmidt let her fall to the ground. He looked up at his soldiers and made a hand movement, trying to tell them to take her away.

Zola hurried to him and watched as they took the girl away. He couldn't help, but feel this guilt. She was never meant to get caught up in this. She was the queen when she wasn't even meant to be included on the chess board.

Schmidt looked to him as he watched the men taking Maria away and sighed at the sight of his presence still there. "Don't you have a train to catch?"

* * *

The Howling Commandos were getting ready to zip line onto a train while Bucky looked down at the cliff they were standing on. It was a long way down. "Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?"

"Yeah," Steve spoke in confusion at him bringing up that memory. "And I threw up."

Bucky looked up at the zip line, thinking about all that could go wrong. "This isn't payback, is it?"

"Why would I do that?" Bucky rolled his eyes at the joke, but Steve just continued to smile at him.

"We were right." They all turned around to see Eddy messing with the radio, causing them to move closer to hear this new information. "Dr. Zola is on that train. Hydra dispatcher gave me permission to open up the throttle."

Gabe looked to them and shrugged. "Wherever he's going, they must need him bad."

Bucky and Steve looked at each other, knowing this was going to be a tough one. Steve sighed and put his helmet on, the others following, getting ready to go on the zip line. "Let's get going because they're moving like the devil." James spoke as he looked through his binoculars.

"We've only got about a ten second window." Steve told them as he looked down at where he was going to land. "You miss that window, you're bugs on a windshield."

"Better get moving, bugs!" Dum Dum called loudly as Steve prepared himself to go first.

Steve, Bucky, Gabe and Eddy sailed through the zip line and landed on the top of the train, climbing down a ladder to get into one of the train cars. Bucky, Steve and Eddy got into one of the train cars as Gabe stayed on the top of the train to find Dr. Zola.

When Steve got through the train car and into another, a door closed on Bucky and Eddy. Steve turned around and panicked. He began banging on the door, but there was no use. Bucky and Eddy turned around to see one of the masked soldiers going for them. Eddy gulped and began shooting along with Bucky as Steve took on another masked soldier in his train car. Hydra's weapons were much bigger.

All three of them fortunately had boxes to hide behind and shot whenever they could. Steve blocked his shots with his shield and blast the door that was separating him and Bucky. Once he defeated the Hydra soldier, he saw that Bucky had no bullets left in his gun and Eddy was putting pressure to a wound on his stomach. He tossed Bucky his gun and then ran out, pushing one of the boxes to distract the soldier so Bucky could shoot him. "I had him on the ropes." Bucky spoke as he moved to stand next to Steve.

"I know you did."

There was a moan from behind them, causing Bucky to begin to run over when another Hydra soldier began to come into the train car. "Get back!" Steve yelled as he pushed Bucky behind him. The soldier blasted him with one of his weapons as Steve put his shield out. They were both sent back which took off the side of the train car, Bucky the closest to Steve's shield.

He bear crawled to the shield and picked up a gun to shoot at the soldier, but he just blast him with the gun again, sending him outside of the train, gripping to one of the bars for life. Steve stood up and threw his shield at the soldier, knocking him down instantly. He then ran to go check on his friend.

When he saw Bucky holding on to one of the bars, he felt some sense of hope, but there was still danger running throughout his whole body. "Bucky!" Steve got out on one of the bars and moved towards Bucky, but Bucky's bar was beginning to break. "Grab my hand." Steve called out once they were close enough. They got within fingertips when the bar broke and Bucky fell through the air.

Steve watched, only being able to replay it again in his mind. He was hoping he would be able to see some sign of Bucky making it, but deep down, he knew that wasn't possible. That fall would kill even him. He lost his partner in crime. The love of his sister's life. His best friend and the one person who had been on his side longer than Maria. His brother.

* * *

Steve and the Howling Commandos walked to their base of operations with heavy hearts. Some of them were carrying Eddy who needed to be operated on right away and others just walked with their heads down, thinking about how Bucky was actually gone.

Steve thought about how he was going to tell Maria the entire time. Peggy and Colonel Phillips were already working on getting Dr. Zola and everyone on the train, leaving the Howling Commandos time to mourn over what had just happened.

When they walked through the door, their thoughts about Bucky went to the back of their heads because the inside was a bloody mess. Doctors were putting people in body bags and others were cleaning the floors and walls. That's when Steve began to panic. "Maria!" He took off running, pushing anyone who was in his way out of it. When he got into the main room, he saw Howard sitting down on one of the chairs with his face in his hands. Steve hurried to him with a worried face on. All he cared about right now was his sister. "Where's my sister?"

Howard looked up at him with red, bloodshot eyes, not helping Steve's nerves at all. "I don't know." He spoke desperately as everything began to run through his mind again. "Hydra took her. They shot me and they took her."

Steve felt his world begin to collapse. First Bucky and now Maria. They were both gone and he wasn't sure if he was ever going to get Maria back. Steve looked to Howard, knowing that he was also shaken up by her absence. He knew he was in love with her ever since the day they showed him the shields and he knew how bad it was to lose someone they love. "Are you alright?"

Howard nodded and unbuttoned his shirt slightly to show him his bullet proof vest. "It still hurts like hell though."

"I meant about Maria." Steve told him quickly.

Howard looked up at him, tears beginning to collect in his eyes again. "No." He shook his head as he bit down on his lip. "Not really." He looked behind Steve, noticing Bucky wasn't anywhere nearby and they were missing his wife. "Where's Bucky? He should be looking for Maria." He looked back up at Steve who was looking down, trying not to look at Howard, feeling tears already begin to fall down his face again. "What happened?" Howard asked slowly, realizing something just wasn't right.

Steve took a deep breath, collecting himself to look back up at Howard and say, "Bucky's…dead."

Howard's mouth dropped slightly. Maria loved Bucky more than anything and all he wanted was for her to be happy and safe. Now she was taken by Hydra and the love of her life was dead. "Steve," Howard began as he stood up.

Steve looked to him, feeling a tear fall down his face. "Just tell me she's gonna be okay." Howard's heart was breaking as he looked down at him. His heart was breaking for the entire Rogers family. Maria and Bucky were all Steve had. His only hope was for Maria to be alive. "Just tell me that we're going to find her and that she's going to be okay."

Howard pulled him in for a hug without even asking. He wasn't a hugger himself, but he knew Steve really needed it, and right now, Howard also really needed one. They both needed Maria. They both really needed her okay, but more importantly, they really needed each other to get through this.

* * *

Maria lied in the chair, still struggling, but the leather straps were just too strong. They had just finished doing a medical test on her which she didn't cooperate for at all. Her only thoughts were of escape. She wanted to get back to Bucky and have him hold her in his arms. She wanted Steve to hug her and tell her that he was going to protect her because no matter how hold she got, she still needed someone to say that to her. She wanted to make sure Howard was okay and she wanted to spend time with him, knowing he was the only person who could make her laugh. She wanted to go back home with everyone she loved by her side.

The door opened and Maria stopped struggling. The second they took the straps off of her, she was punching whoever this was in the face and then running. She probably wouldn't get far, but she wouldn't stop trying to escape until she had that sweet feeling of freedom.

Schmidt approached her with his red face and a clip board in hand, causing Maria to start struggling again. She hated this man more than she could hate anyone. "Hello, Mrs. Barnes."

Maria loudly hit her arms on the metal chair while giving him an angry face. "Get me the hell out of here!"

"I'm sorry." He spoke as he moved next to her, touching her face, but Maria turned away, hating the thought of his touch. "We can't let you go."

He took his hand from her cheek and she shut her eyes, fear pumping in all of her veins. "What are you going to do to me?" She asked slowly with a shaky voice.

"That's easy." He spoke as he moved to lean down right in front of her. "You're going to be our new experiment."

Her breath was rapid as he moved even closer to her, but she somehow found the strength to ask, "What experiment?"

"Darling," He spoke as he stroked her cheek again. "You're going to be the winter soldier."

_**Okay, obviously Maria isn't going to be the Winter Soldier because she's pregnant with Melody's dad right now, but I wanted to include her being kidnapped to mix some things up. I know this chapter was short, but I thought this was a good place to stop. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed and please review!**_


	10. You Won't Be Alone

Schmidt walked into Maria's room while looking at her files as she turned her head to him weakly. She felt them just draining and draining her and she knew that they were doing this all on purpose. "Hey," She spoke in a hoarse voice. "I think you took me for a reason and you don't want me to die so you should probably get me some water."

Schmidt smiled at her and looked back down at the files. "Looks like you're going to need the water. Not only for yourself, but for your unborn child." Maria glared at him, hating that he knew this about her. If he wanted to, he could use that against her and possibly hurt her unborn child. "Congratulations, Mrs. Barnes. You're pregnant."

"Tell me something I don't know."

He walked over to her with a smile, but all she did was glare at him. "What do you think is going to happen here? You think you're going to escape?"

Maria turned to him with a smile. "Yes." He scoffed and began to walk away from her. "Because my husband and my brother are going to come get me." Schmidt stopped walking when it occurred to him that she had no idea about what had happened to Bucky. "And that is going to be your worst nightmare."

He turned to her with a wicked smile, happy that it was going to be him who told her that she is now a widow. "Your husband?" She nodded cockily, causing his smile to just grow wider. "Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes." Maria nodded slowly with confusion all over her face as Schmidt got closer to her. "Your husband isn't going to come for you."

Maria's eyebrows furrowed at that. Of course Bucky would come for her. She began to think that he was just saying this to get her to lose hope, but there was something about the way that he spoke which was throwing her off. "What are you getting at?"

"You see, Mrs. Barnes," He stopped when he got close enough to her, getting a good look at her face. "Your husband is no longer with us."

Maria began to get really nervous, feeling herself twitch at his sentence. She could feel her muscles begin to tighten at the thought of what he was going to say next. Something just wasn't right. Something hadn't been right for a while. "What do you mean?" She asked as a lump sat in her throat, threatening to grow bigger.

He smiled even wider, putting his hand on the top of her head. For the first time, Maria didn't fight his touch. It didn't even phase her. The only thing she wanted to know about was Bucky. "Your newlywed is dead, my dear."

Those six words were like a punch in the stomach for her. At first, she went through shock. She thought she had heard him wrong. She asked him to repeat it, and once he said those words again, it hurt more than the first time. Those words didn't feel real. She felt like he was making it all up to get to her, but she thought back to how things didn't really feel right. She now knew what it was that didn't feel right. It was Bucky. She could already feel his absence.

Schmidt took one look at her broken face of realization and…smiled. It brought pleasure to him to see her in so much pain. He was actually thriving off of her crumbling face as a tear rolled down it. It made him feel a sick rush of power. He had destroyed her just by the word of tongue. It made him feel powerful. Powerful in every way possible. He backed away from her as she began to think of a life without Bucky with the smile still on his face.

Maria had seen the smile and it was making her sick to the stomach. The fact that he enjoyed her pain and shock was the most disgusting thing she had ever seen. In that moment, she wanted him to bleed more than anything. She wanted to avenge her fiancé. She wanted him dead from her own hands. She slowly began to abandon her humanity at the thought of murdering him slowly and painfully.

* * *

Steve walked through the town they were in, finding it impossible to go back to where they were staying. Every single thing reminded him of either Bucky or Maria.

It was a ghost town. He could barely remember the name of it, but he knew he was in Germany. Everything in it and around it laid destroyed at his feet from the war. Steve shook his head, trying to remember how this war even got started. Before the war seemed like so long ago. It was just dragging on and on. It caused so much pain and heartbreak, not just for him, but around the world. Cities that once ruled the world laid in shambles because of this war. Woman were widows. Children were fatherless. Parents were left without their children. And for what? When he first began thinking about this, he thought he was just being cynical, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew it was true.

He had found a bar that was barely left standing and went to the back to get the bit of alcohol left. He found a table and began sipping on whisky which was one of Bucky's favorite drinks. He wanted to get so drunk that he wouldn't remember anything that had happened, but it didn't work. That was one of the things he hated about being a super soldier.

Peggy also found herself wondering through the town. Without her best friend, she had to find something else to do with her nights besides having girl talk with Maria. She found herself walking around, thinking about her. She thought about where she was. What she was doing. If she was alive. Peggy had to chew on the insides of her cheeks to keep from crying at the thought of never speaking to her friend again.

As she walked, something caught her eye. She saw the blonde back of Steve Rogers's head. She sighed, knowing he was experiencing it the worst out of everyone. She slowly walked in, being careful where she stepped, making sure she didn't fall. When he heard her steps, he turned his head, not really caring at this point if it was a Hydra soldier coming to destroy him. When he saw it was Peggy, he turned around and reached for his bottle to pour himself another glass as Peggy moved to stand right next to him. "Dr. Erskine said that the serum wouldn't just affect my muscles, but also affect my cells to create a protective system of regeneration and healing which means, I can't get drunk." He turned his ear to her, not really feeling the emotional strength to look at her. "Did you know that?"

She sighed and pulled up a chair right next to him. "Your metabolism if four times faster than the average person." Peggy sighed, thinking of Maria and this conversation they had about her brother's side effects. "We thought it could be one of the side effects." He looked back down at his drink, knowing exactly where she had gotten that information. Peggy picked up on it and leaned forward a little bit to get a better look at his face. "It wasn't your fault."

He didn't even look up at her. "Did you read the report?"

"Yes."

He scoffed and began to twirl his glass around. "Then you know that's not true."

"You did everything you could." She studied him nervously, hoping that what she said would register in his mind and that he would stop blaming himself, but he just continued to look down at his drink.

"And now," He spoke as he began to stand his glass up and twirl it around. "My baby sister, the one person I'm supposed to protect come hell or high water, was taken by Hydra. The one organization that has been torturing and killing people with very twisted science."

Peggy sighed at the way he looked down. She had never seen him this broken. He was always so strong with his emotions. He always had so much hope. So much faith. She had to do something to make him believe again. "Did you believe in your friend?" Steve looked up at that, not understand where this was going. "Did you respect him?" Steve nodded slightly. "Then stop blaming yourself. And that was the dignity of his choice. He damn well must have thought you were worth it."

Steve looked back down at his glass as Peggy continued to look at him. "I'm going after Schmidt." He finally spoke. "I'm not going stop until all of Hydra is dead or captured."

Peggy nodded in supportive agreement as he continued to look down at his glass. "You won't be alone." He looked up at her and gave her a very small smile that left just as quick as it came, but Peggy took it. She put her hand on his, pulling it away from the glass and just sitting there with him, appreciating the comfort of a small hand hold.

* * *

Maria was still strapped to her chair, but this time, she had a television up to her, playing Bucky's death over and over again. These people wanted to torture her and they were succeeding.

She had turned away from the television and was reaching for a scalpel that wasn't far from her. She had planned on cutting her wrists once it was in her hand. She knew they wanted something from her. They would have killed her if they didn't. They wanted her to be the winter soldier. She didn't know what that was, but she also didn't plan on finding out.

A part of her felt guilty for planning on killing herself. She felt guilty for the baby growing inside her. She knew one way or another that the baby wasn't going to have a future. She knew Schmidt was going to get rid of her baby one way or another.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought of it. Her life wasn't supposed to go like this. She was supposed to continue working on making weapons under Stark Industries until Bucky came back from war. The two of them were supposed to be married after the war was over and they were going to be a family. They were going to move into a nice house in Brooklyn and raise their child together. It wasn't supposed to end with Bucky falling to his death and her cutting her wrists to avoid aiding the Nazi party. They were supposed to grow old together and tell their grandchildren of what life was like in the 1940's, but now Maria knew that life was no longer possible. The Barnes line would end with her and her child.

She was so close to the scalpel when the door opened and she straightened up, pretending like she wasn't doing anything. The masked Hydra soldiers walked into her room and took away the television. She stared at them with a confused face as they walked out and left her alone.

She looked back to the scalpel and knew she needed it now. She had to do it now before Schmidt came back. She worked as hard as she could to move and get it, but the door opened to reveal Schmidt. She stopped what she was doing and looked to him, her glare showing all of her hate for him. "What do you want?"

He moved over to the window, looking out on all his Hydra soldiers with a blank face. Maria couldn't tell what he was thinking at all. "I want to offer you a proposition."

Maria scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "I would never do anything to help you and your crazy little cult following."

He turned to look at her with a slight smile, moving closer to her. "We have something of a super soldier serum."

Maria shook her head. "Bullshit."

"Dr. Erskine made the basis of it when he was a part of Hydra." He told her with a growing smile. "You think we didn't know exactly what was in it?" Maria turned away from him, hating that this was happening to her. All she wanted to know was what she did to deserve this. "We will inject you with it if you say yes and you will become powerful just like your brother."

Maria opened her mouth to refuse with everything she had when something occurred to her. She would be strong. She would be like Steve. She would be stronger than humanly possible. She could possibly be even stronger than Schmidt. She thought back to her want to murder him with her own bare hands. She thought about how all of her fantasies of his death would come true if she said yes to Hydra's super soldier serum. She could even possibly take down all of Hydra. "What do you say?"

She jumped at the sound of Schmidt's voice, being lost in her own thoughts, she forgot about him even being there. She felt like she finally had the upper hand. She wouldn't be able to have the life she always pictured, but she would be able to avenge Bucky. She would be able to avenge the life she always pictured. She would be able to avenge the girl she used to be. She slowly turned to look at Schmidt and nodded slightly. "I'll do it."

He scoffed at her choice, not really expecting it. "I thought you Americans were supposed to be fighters. I thought you were supposed to fight for everything you believe in." He shook his head and began to walk to the door, looking back at her one more time before exiting. "I guess it's just another one of those self-proclaimed things by you arrogant pigs."

Maria continued to glare at the door as he closed it behind him. She thought about how great it would be to kill him. How great it would be to finally shut him up.

* * *

They all sat in the operation room in their base, discussing their new plan; Colonel Phillips standing at the front. With Bucky's death and Maria's kidnapping, they all had this extra motivation picking them up in this dark time. It was the motivation to avenge and save. "Johann Schmidt belongs in a bug house. He thinks he's a god and he's willing to blow up half the world to prove it. Starting with the USA."

Howard was tired of standing in the back like the rest of them. He wanted to do something now. Something that would matter. "Schmidt's working with powers beyond our capabilities. He gets across the Atlantic, he'll wipe out the entire eastern seaboard in an hour." He spoke as he moved to sit at the table with the other soldiers.

"How much time we got?" Gabe asked as he looked from Howard to Colonel Phillips.

"According to my new best friend," He spoke, referring to the now captured Dr. Zola. "Within twenty-four hours."

Steve looked up at him, remembering what he had vowed to Peggy. He was going to destroy Hydra no matter what. "Where is he now?" James asked, bringing Steve back into the conversation.

"Hydra's last base is here." He pointed to a picture and put it down on the table for everyone else to see. "In the Alps."

"So," Dum Dum began while looking at each of them individually. "What are we supposed to do?"

"It's not like we can just knock on the front door." Jim spoke as he picked up the picture and began to study it even further.

"Why not?" Steve asked, getting everyone's attention. All Steve wanted was for this to be over and done with. It was something he needed for his own peace of mind. "That's exactly what we're gonna do."

_**There are only going to be a few more chapters left of the story and I will try my hardest on finishing it by either this week or next week. I hope you enjoyed and please review!**_


	11. Captain America, The Hero

Steve knocked on the front door by himself. With his motorcycle, he crashed into Hydra's only remaining base and began to raise some hell. He took out the Hydra soldiers on the motorcycles behind him quickly with his shield and the weapons he was given by Stark. He had completely redesigned his motorcycle and put weapons all over it, causing Steve to take out the tank like it was nothing.

He got past the entrance of the base and began beating up all of the Hydra soldiers as his motorcycle was sent into one of the walls, causing it to blow up. He was defeating most of the soldiers until they made a barrier with flame throwers to trap Steve.

They guided him into Schmidt's lair. It was where all the weapons were made. It was where all the evil was planned and Steve was standing right in the middle of it. "Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait," He spoke as he moved to join Steve and the soldiers that were holding onto him. "But I must say you do it better than anyone. But there are limits to what even you can do, Captain. Or did Dr. Erskine tell you otherwise?"

"He told me you were insane."

Schmidt scoffed a little at how fast he had a comeback for that. "He resented my genius, and tried to deny me what was rightfully mine, but he gave you everything." He looked at him like he was…jealous. Steve was someone Abraham admired while all he did was despise what Schmidt had become. "So, what made you so special?"

Steve looked up at him, picking up on the jealousy and smiled. "Nothing. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

He was tired of him. All he wanted was for him to be gone. He punched him in the face as the soldiers held onto him and continued to punch him all over his body. Steve doubled over and coughed on the ground, feeling pain all over his body. He looked up at him, taking deep breaths, only thinking of one thing to say to him. "I can do this all day."

"Oh, of course you can." He spoke as he reached into his jacket and pulled out one of Hydra's weapons. "But unfortunately I am on a tight schedule."

They were both distracted by the sound of something grabbing onto the rock from outside. Steve smiled to himself and looked back to Schmidt as the Howling Commandos burst through the window. "So am I."

Schmidt ran that second. The Howling Commandos took down the Hydra soldiers in that room easily. James got a hold of Steve's shield and yelled out, "Rogers!" He stopped and turned to him just a James threw the shield. "You might need this."

Steve gave him a salute and thanked him before running off to stop Schmidt and save his sister.

* * *

The last bit of the Hydra doctors were getting Maria ready for her injection. They set up an IV and began to search for the right vein to put it in. The man began to inspect her arm and then her hand, deciding her hand was the better vein.

She wasn't paying attention to any of it. All she thought about was getting out of here and killing Johann Schmidt. She stared up at the ceiling, wondering what life would be like with the super soldier serum inside of her. She wondered what she would do after she killed Schmidt. She wondered if she would ever find her brother again. All she pictured was being on the road all by herself, hunting down every last member of Hydra.

She felt her eyes begin to get heavy from the IV in her arm when there was a crash. She opened her eyes quickly and began to look around. She couldn't see clearly, but she could make out that the Hydra soldiers were getting their asses kicked.

It got quiet and Maria still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but when she looked up, she saw Howard pulling the IV out of her. "Howard?" She whispered in a weak voice.

He gave her a slight smile as he began taking the straps off of her. "Yeah. You think I'm gonna leave my right hand girl when she needs me the most?" Maria smiled at him as he helped her up from the seat.

For the first time since she was kidnapped, she felt so happy. She was happy that she had people that cared enough to rescue her. She was happy that it was Howard, her best friend who was also one of the most egotistical men she had ever met, that risked his life to save her. She wasn't so cynical anymore, she actually had hope. "Please tell me none of that Hydra shit got in my system."

Howard looked to the still full vial of the Hydra super soldier serum that wasn't even attached to the machine yet. "You're good, Barnes."

He handed her a gun and put his arm out to become her crutch as he helped her out of the medical room. They were immediately greeted by Hydra soldiers, but they greeted them back with their guns.

An entire army was making their way into the Hydra compound, taking down every soldier they saw as the Howling Commandos worked their way through the rest of the compound. Steve was chasing Schmidt down the hallway, blocking off all of his shots with his shield until he ran through an automatically closing door. There wasn't much Steve could do and he knew he wasn't fast enough to make it before the door closed so he threw the shield into the door, keeping it open.

Maria and Howard hurried out of the hallway they were in, but stopped when they saw Steve. A huge smile spread across the siblings' faces once they got a good look at each other, but Steve's went away quickly when he saw a Hydra soldier coming for them with a flame thrower. "Get out of the way!"

Maria turned around and grabbed Howard's hand as Steve pulled her into a small opening that would keep them protected from the fire. "Wow," Maria commented as Steve pulled her into a tight hug. "I've never been so happy to see you in my entire life."

"Same here." He told her as he shut his eyes, appreciating that he was actually holding his sister. "I thought you were dead." He breathed out as he pulled away and stroked her hair with his hand, glad that he still had her. She was still alive. His baby sister was still alive.

"This is touching and all, but we really need to figure out how to get out of here." Howard said as he looked back and forth at them.

The two turned away from each other and peeked out from the wall they were hiding behind to see more fire, causing them to go back to hiding. Peggy and the rest of the army showed up behind the soldier and shot him down like it was nothing. The three of them looked at each other and then peeked out from behind the wall to see Peggy with her gun. Maria smiled as Steve ran out to greet her. When they saw each other, Steve looked right into her eyes, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "You're late."

Peggy gave him a tiny smirk, but didn't look away from his eyes, finding it hard to even think about looking away. "Weren't you about to…?"

"Right." He ran to where he had thrown his shield and went through the door.

Maria ran from behind the wall she was hiding behind and threw her arms around her friend who hugged her back as tight as she could. "I'm so happy you're okay." Peggy whispered as the two began to rock back and forth while smiling at each other.

"You three," They both jumped at Colonel Phillips's voice and broke out of their hug. He looked from Maria to Peggy to Howard and nodded, knowing they were the only team he wanted to take. "Follow me. Our jobs aren't done yet."

Steve chased Schmidt into an aircraft hangar where the Hydra and US army were fighting each other. Steve had to climb up and swing over all the fighting to end up even close to the jet that Schmidt was on. He was going to be late. Schmidt's jet was already preparing to lift off as Steve ran after it.

He began to slow to a stop, realizing that it was hopeless. He would never catch up to it. There was the sound of a car next to him, and when he turned he saw Colonel Phillips driving and Maria, Peggy and Howard in the back seat. "Get in!" Colonel Phillips called.

Steve didn't waste any time. He jumped inside the car and Colonel Phillips began driving as fast as the car could go to get them close enough to Schmidt. They were all pushed to the back of their seats as their hair flew back. Once they got close enough, Steve began to prepare himself by standing up in the car. "Keep it steady!"

Peggy sat up a little bit, grabbing onto Steve and calling out, "Wait!" Steve stopped to look at her as she stood up and gave him a kiss. When they pulled away, Steve stared at her in shock. That was the one thing that would give him the strength and motivation to keep going. In that moment, he knew what he was fighting for. He was fighting to keep his two favorite girls safe. Peggy and Maria. "Go get him."

Steve was still in shock as he turned to Colonel Phillips and Howard and Maria sat there with dropped jaws. "I'm not kissing you." Colonel Phillips claimed as he gave Steve a glance.

Steve got up again as they approached the under part of the jet. "Steve," Maria called desperately as she watched him. "Be careful."

He nodded. "I love you."

She smiled at the way he said it, but it also made her nervous. She didn't want this to be the last time she said it. "I love you!"

"Take care of my sister, Stark!"

Howard nodded as he looked at Maria, finding himself lost in her face like he had been so many times. He watched as every muscle on that beautiful face was possessed by worry and fear, and every part of his being just wanted to make her feel better. "I will."

As Schmidt got out of the hangar, Steve jumped up and grabbed a hold of the jet as the Colonel Phillips swerved the car, having it barely stop at the edge of the hangar. Peggy stood up in the car and watched until Steve safely got into the aircraft. Once Maria saw that he had got in, she made her way out of the car, helping Peggy, Howard and Colonel Phillips out as well. "I have to get to the control booth." She told them quickly. "I need to find out what's going on in that craft." Colonel Phillips grabbed her by the arm and led her to control booth with Peggy and Howard following behind.

When Steve got in the jet, he saw bombs with Chicago and New York written on it. He stood there in shock for a moment. He couldn't let his home be blown to bits by Hydra. He wouldn't. He took down the Hydra soldiers standing guard in the ship easily, but more came. One opened up the one of the planes, but didn't get a chance to get inside it and fell out the ship along with the unmanned plane.

One of the other Hydra soldiers got inside one of the other planes, but Steve got on top of it along with another one of the Hydra soldiers. The one controlling it tried to shake him off, but Steve kept on wrestling with the Hydra soldier on top of it. He flew the plane up, sending the Hydra soldier into the propeller, but Steve continued to hold on, the pilot thinking he had lost him. Steve took him by surprise when he opened up the plane and ejected him out of his seat. Steve got inside it and flew right back into Schmidt's jet, crashing a little bit, but coming up in one piece.

He picked up his shield and made his way into the command center. He moved towards the chair cautiously, trying to see if Schmidt was in that seat. He then heard a creaking behind him and when he turned around, Schmidt was there, holding a gun to him. Steve blocked the shot with his shield, angering Schmidt. "You don't give up, do you?"

"Nope." He yelled quickly before dodging all of his shots. The two began fist fighting, Steve sending Schmidt into one of the controls that caused the plane to begin to go down.

Steve was sent to the back of the plane as Schmidt made his way to the controls, setting it up right before pulling out his gun to finish Steve. "You could have the power of gods!" He yelled as he shot the gun off, but missed Steve who was running to get back to him. "Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations. I have seen the future, Captain. There are no flags."

"Not my future!" He yelled out as he flipped out of the way of one of the shots.

Schmidt shot at him and when Steve picked up his shield, it backfired and sent him falling back, knocking the tesseract out of its place. "What have you done?!" Schmidt yelled as he picked it up in his hands.

The tesseract opened up a portal into space which slowly disintegrated Schmidt as Steve watched on in horror. It was something he had never seen before. Something he would remember for the rest of his life. Once Schmidt was gone, the portal closed up and the tesseract burned its way through the bottom of the ship.

Steve couldn't worry about that now. He had to save his country. His home. He got into the pilot seat, taking off his helmet and putting down his shield. He saw that he was headed straight for New York City, so he picked up the radio, knowing exactly who would be on the other line. "Come in. This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?"

Maria's heart jumped out of her chest when she heard Steve's voice. She moved the radio to her mouth and began speaking, "Steve, is that you? Are you all right?"

"Maria!" He yelled out happily. Peggy joined her on the chair as Colonel Phillips and Howard stood in the back of the room, listening closely.

"Schmidt's dead."

Maria and Peggy looked at each other and then back at the microphone. "What about the plane?"

"Peggy," Steve sighed out, loving the sound of her voice. "That's a little bit tougher to explain."

Maria could already feel her throat tightening, knowing exactly what something like that meant. "Give me your coordinates. I'll give you a safe landing sight."

"There's not going to be a safe landing." Maria felt her eyes begin to fill with tears at the thought of just getting her brother back and now having him taken from her. "I'm going to try and force it down."

"Just give us some time." Maria pleaded. "We can figure it out."

"There's not enough time." He objected. "This thing is moving too fast and it's heading for New York." He took a pause, shutting his eyes, knowing this was going to destroy Maria. He was the only family she had left. "I gotta put her in the water."

"Please, Steve, don't do this." Maria pleaded.

"She's right." Peggy told him. "We have time. We can figure it out."

"Right now, I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer, a lot of people are going to die." Maria felt the tears flowing down her face and she couldn't stop it no matter how hard she tried. "Maria, this is my choice."

"I love you." Maria cried out.

"I love you more." He said in a hoarse voice, knowing this was the last time he was going to talk to his little sister. "Howard," He looked up from the back of the room, feeling his eyes begin to water. "Remember what you promised me. You have to protect her. You protect my little sister. That's an order"

Howard moved closer, putting his hands on Maria's shoulders and she grabbed his hand, needing comfort more than anything right now. "I promise you, Steve."

"Peggy?"

"I'm here." She spoke as a tear trickled down her face.

"I'm going to need a rain check on that dance."

She smiled a little bit and nodded. "All right. A week next Saturday at the Stork Club."

"You got it." He promised while taking a deep breath, knowing he would never make it.

"Eight o'clock on the dot. Don't you dare be late. Understood?"

Maria's grip on Howard's hand got tighter, knowing they didn't have much time left with him. "You know, I still don't know how to dance."

"I'll show you." She laughed out. "Just be there."

"We'll have the band play something real slow. I'd hate to step on your-"

There was static and Maria shut her eyes tight, knowing her brother was really gone. "Steve?" Peggy called out desperately. "Steve!" She said it slightly louder and Maria got up from her seat and Howard grabbed her, wrapping her in his arms. "Steve." Peggy whispered out as more tears began to fall down her face. Maria felt her body beginning to drop and Howard eased her to the ground as she cried. Colonel Phillips slowly walked out of the room, leaving the three of them in there to cry and mourn privately, and also to let himself mourn privately.

* * *

It had been two years since what had happened to Steve, and Howard and Maria were now engaged. It was her promise with Bucky to get married after the war, so Howard and Maria didn't wait until after. They got married as soon as possible and together began raising James Steven Barnes, who was named after his father and uncle. Two of the greatest heroes Maria and Howard had ever known. When V-E Day finally came around, they spent it celebrating, but mostly mourning.

They had tried to find Steve. Howard and Maria searched and searched, finding only the tesseract. They found no plane wreckage. No debris. No Steve. They looked as long as they could until Maria couldn't be out on the high seas anymore from being too pregnant.

On V-E Day, Maria thought a lot about Steve and Bucky. She thought about how happy they would both be that it was finally over. Bucky would have pulled James up on his lap and told him stories about his time in the war as Steve would have debated that it wasn't for children's ears to hear. Maria would have rolled her eyes and taken James in for a nap that they would have both needed. They would have been really happy together. Maria was happy now, though. She had James. And even though it felt impossible, she found love again. She fell in love with her best friend. Howard Stark. She was really starting to feel better now.

Colonel Phillips had given Peggy Steve's file once the war was over and she kept it forever. He had made such an impact in her life. He had helped her discover all this faith and hope she had inside of her. She learned about what real strength was. Most importantly, she learned how to truly love someone.

After the war, Peggy, Colonel Phillips, Maria and Howard developed SHIELD together. They wanted to create something that would deal with the things that not everyone needed to know about. Top secret things. Things that SSR took care of during the war. The reason for the long name? They really wanted to honor Steve with the organization. He was America's best hero. Steve was the reason the organization existed. Captain America was the reason. He went down in the books as a legend, but to everyone who knew him, he was still just that kid from Brooklyn who hated bullies.

_**I always get so emotional at the end of this movie! It isn't over yet! The epilogue is coming your way!**_


	12. Epilogue

_**Here's the last chapter! The Avengers story probably won't be up for a while because I need to focus on my Teen Wolf fanfic right now. Thank you all for reading and leaving your wonderful reviews! They mean so much to me! I hope I can get the next story up soon for you guys! Enjoy!**_

Steve woke up, and felt very weak. He half expected Maria to be sitting in the chair nearby, but then he remembered everything. He remembered crashing the plane in the arctic. He should be dead. He began to look around, not noticing any of his surroundings. He sat up and began to think about anything after the crash. Anything that could tell him where he was. Something else got his attention, though. He turned around to the radio which was playing a baseball game. A baseball game he specifically remembered going to with Bucky and Maria.

The door opened, and he looked to it in fear. A woman in a military uniform walked in with a smile. "Good morning." She looked down at her watch and moved closer to him. "Or should I say afternoon?"

He didn't want to deal with any bullshit. He wanted to know what was going on. Now. "Where am I?"

"You're in a recovery room in New York City." She told him cheerfully, but he didn't buy it.

He looked back to the radio, knowing for sure that he went to that game with Bucky and Maria. He looked back at the nurse skeptically and asked, "Where am I really?"

Her eyebrows furrowed, but she kept her smile. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"The game." He spoke forcefully. "It's from May, 1941. I know because I was there." The nurse looked at him nervously, she didn't expect him to realize the truth this fast. "Now, I'm gonna ask you again." He spoke as he stood up. "Where am I?"

* * *

Melody's fingers danced on the window, tracing a few drops of rain as they trickled down. Fury had just finished up his story and she sat there, waiting for what else he had to tell her. "You just gonna sit there and play with the rain?"

Melody sighed and crossed her arms, turning back to Fury with a shrug. "What do you want me to say? I've heard it all." Fury leaned back into his chair, waiting to hear what she had to say this time as she began pacing. "I know that my great uncle is Captain America. I know my grandmother was married to Bucky Barnes, the war hero, and got pregnant with his baby, which is where my dad came from. I know that Maria and Howard got married before the war ended and raised my dad together, and then had Tony. I know that Peggy Carter married one of the Howling Commandos and had my mom. I know that Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were honorable men who died fighting for our country and I know that I'm their legacy. I know everything you just told me, so why waste your time on telling it all to me again?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that you don't know everything?"

She turned to Fury with a smirk as she stopped twirling her Captain America bracelet to put her hands on her desk. "What's with the episode of Between the Lions?"

Fury looked to her, his face unchanging as he said, "Captain America is not dead."

She blinked a couple of times, not totally sure that she heard him right. "What?"

"Captain America is not dead." She stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say. "You still think you know everything?"

Melody felt like her entire world had been tilted. This is what she spent her whole life believing and now she was told it wasn't true. "Then what has he been doing for the past, like, 70 years?"

"He's been frozen." Fury spoke as he stood up from his desk and moved to his window, staring at it the way she was in the beginning. "Hasn't been found until his aircraft and body were stumbled upon in the arctic. When they dug his body out, they found he was still kicking."

"What did you do with him?" She asked slowly. She didn't totally trust SHIELD yet and Captain America was her blood relative. She felt responsible for making sure he was okay and making sure SHIELD didn't mess with him in any way.

Fury turned around, knowing exactly where that question was coming from and part of him wished that she would trust him already. "He's sleeping."

"_All agents, code 13_." They both looked up at the intercom. Melody's face held confusion. She didn't know any of the codes, but Fury knew exactly what was going on. "_I repeat, all agents, code 13_."

He looked to Melody who was waiting for an explanation, but he walked right past her. "Looks like the Cap is awake."

He hurried out the door, leaving Melody in Fury's office. She hurried to the window to see Steve Rogers run out into the middle of the street, barefoot. She put a hand to her mouth when he was almost hit by a cab.

He looked so confused and it was breaking her heart as he ran the other way. He was asleep for 70 years. This had to be the most shocking thing to wake up to. He began to run towards Time Square as Melody put her hand to the window, watching him nervously. Part of her thought that Fury hadn't been telling the truth the entire time, but once Steve ran by, she knew that was Captain America. She knew this was her super soldier great uncle. She sighed, knowing her family tree was about to become more complicated, as was the Avengers Initiative. "Here we go."


End file.
